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fikst  meeting  OF  Mary  stuart  AND  ruzio.    {From painting  by  David  Meal.) 


OUR    AMERICAN  ARTISTS 


S.    G.    W.  BENJAMIN. 


WITH 

PORTRAITS,  STUDIOS,  AND  ENGRAVINGS  OF  PAINTINGS. 


D. 


BOSTON: 
LOTHROP  &  CO.,  PUBLISHERS, 

30  &  32  Franklin  Street. 


Copyright  by 
D.  LOTHROP  &  COMPANY, 
1S79. 


TO 

MY  LITTLE  DAUGHTER 
EDITH. 


Note. 


^JT*HE   author  gladly  avails  himself  of  this  opportunity  to  thank  the  artists  who   have  kindly  furnished  the 
illustrations  for  this  volume,  and  have  also  permitted   him  to  use    incidents  from  their  art  life  as  a 
means  for  initiating  the  young  into  some  of  the  mysteries  and  attractions  of  art. 


CONTENTS. 


I. 

WILLIAM  H.  BEARD. 
II. 

ALBERT  F.  BELLOWS. 
III. 

ROBERT  SWAIN  GIFFORD. 
IV. 

WILLIAM  M.  CHASE. 
V. 

SAN  FORD  R.  GIFFORD. 
VI. 

WALTER  SHIRLAW. 
VII. 

JOHN  J.  ENNEKING. 
VIII. 

THOMAS  W.  WOOD. 
IX. 

SAMUEL  COLMAN. 
X. 

WORDSWORTH  THOMPSON. 
XI. 

GEORGE  LORING  BROWN. 


XII. 

DAVID  NEAL. 


WILLIAM    H  .  BEARD. 


THE  painter  whose  name  and  portrait  accompany 
this  article  claims  our  attention  both  as  an  ex- 
cellent artist  and  as  one  who  gives  us  many  enter- 
taining pictures  of  animal  life.  No  branch  of  art 
requires  a  more  earnest  interest  in  the  subject  than 
that  of  animal  painting,  or  more  early  displays  itself  in 
the-  dawning  genius  of  the  destined  artist.  This  is  one 
of  the  most  recent  fields  of  art.  Sneyders,  Weenix, 
and  Wouverman,  who  were  Dutch  painters  of  the  sev- 
enteenth century,  are  the  first  noted  animal  painters. 


In  our  time  there  are  many  artists  in  Europe  who  have 
studied  the  forms  and  habits  of  animals,  especially 
the  horse  and  the  dog.  Many  of  the  readers  of 
this  volume  are  doubtless  familiar  with  the  horses 
of  Schreyer,  the  German  painter,  and  Herring  the 
Englishman,  and  the  noble  dogs  and  sheep  and  deer 
of  Sir  Edwin  Landseer,  who  made  the  animals  he 
painted  seem  so  human  that  they  excite  our  sympathy 
or  mirth  as  if  they  were  like  ourselves. 

In  our  own  country  our  best  artists  have  generally 


OUR  AMERICAN  ARTISTS. 


been  landscape  painters,  but  we  have,  however,  some 
very  good  artists  who  devote  their  talents  to  painting 
animals ;  generally  they  are  specialists,  that  is,  each 
chooses  one  particular  class  of  animals.  Mr.  Walter 
Brackett,  for  example,  has  made  a  careful  study  of 
fish.  He  has  a  fascinating  custom,  which  he  has 
pursued  for  over  twenty  years,  of  going  into  the 
mountains  with  his  son  and  camping  out,  fishing  in 
the  roaring  brooks  and  painting  the  salmon  and 
speckled  trout  as  they  quiver  on  the  end  of  the  line. 
Hinckley  paints  lifelike  foxes  ;  Robinson,  James  Hart, 
and  young  Inness  show  us  the  ox  or  the  cow  wading  in 
the  stream  on  a  warm  day  by  the  green  meadow-lands 
or  drawing  heavy  carts  with  infinite  patience.  Bisp- 
ham,  of  Boston,  paints  horses,  and  Rogers,  who  is  still 
very  young,  has  a  passion  for  representing  retrievers 
and  spaniels  on  canvass  with  great  freshness  and  vigor. 
He  has  a  dog  which  is  trained  to  take  a  position 
when  his  master  wishes  to  paint  him.  Tait  paints 
game  birds  in  a  way  that  almost  whets  one's  appetite 
for  roast  duck. 

These  are  all  American  artists.  But  there  is  no 
one  in  the  country,  who  has  more  carefully  studied 
and  painted  the  habits  and  character  of  a  large  va- 
riety of  animals  than  Mr.  Beard.  He  was  born  at 
Painesville,  Ohio,  in  1825,  and  comes  from  an  artistic 
family.  His  mother  was  a  woman  of  large  intelli- 
gence and  excellent  taste,  and  his  older  brother, 
James  H.  Beard,  is  a  skillful  artist,  of  national  repu- 
tation as  a  portrait  painter  and  an  admirable  delin- 
eator of  dogs  and  cats,  which  he  paints  with  lifelike 
truth,  while  his  three  sons  are  also  artists.  William 
showed  a  love  for  animals  from  infancy,  and  says  that 
he  cannot  remember  when  he  first  took  to  drawing, 
he  began  so  early  to  wield  a  pencil  and  brush.  In 
those  days  people  in  America  cared  less  for  art  than 
they  do  now,  and  young  Beard  did  not  receive 
encouragement  to  take  it  up  as  a  profession.  It  was 
thought  by  his  neighbors  and  family  that  one  artist  in 
the  family  was  enough,  his  brother  James  having  al- 
ready set  up  as  a  portrait  painter.  But  the  lad, 
urged  by  a  strong  impulse,  persisted  in  drawing 
animals,  determined  that  art  should  be  his  profession. 
His  advantages  were  very  small  for  learning,  but  that 
perhaps  helped  him  by  forcing  him  to  depend  more 
upon  his  own  resources  and  especially  to  study  care- 
fully the  objects  he  wished  to  paint.  All  the  knowl- 
edge that  a  master  can  give  cannot  take  the  place  of 


ardent  and  persistent  study  of  nature.  It  is  from 
nature  that  our  best  lessons  are  learned,  and  the 
artist  of  ability  who  most  studies  nature  will  tell  us 
most  that  is  worth  knowing.  In  the  days  when 
William  Beard  was  young  there  were  no  art  schools 
in  the  country,  and  although  we  had  produced  a  few 
good  painters,  they  had  come  up  by  dint  of  strong 
original  talent  and  perseverance.  One  has  a  high 
respect  for  the  artists  like  Cole,  or  Stuart,  or  Doughty, 
or  Durand,  who  did  so  much  good  work  while  only 
self-taught.  And  to  that  class  of  artists  Mr.  Beard 
most  certainly  belongs,  for  few  painters  have  been 
more  self-taught  than  he.  From  such  an  example  the 
boy  or  girl  who  feels  desirous  of  drawing  can  take 
encouragement  to  begin  at  any  time,  the  secret  of  art 
being  to  study  nature  with  earnestness  and  enthusiasm 
and  to  draw  things  as  they  look  to  the  observer.  Of 
course  practice  of  the  eye  and  hand  are  like  a  grow- 
ing fortune.  Each  year  they  add  to  the  excellence 
reached  in  rendering  nature,  and  one  may  become 
better  able  thoroughly  to  gain  advantage  from  the 
lessons  of  those  who  have  become  masters  in  art. 

Mr.  Beard  went  to  New  York  city  after  he  had  been 
painting  for  awhile,  and  took  a  few  lessons  from  his 
brother  James.  He  then  settled  in  Buffalo  for  ten 
years,  where  he  gained  a  solid  local  reputation. 
During  that  time  he  painted  his  picture  of  a  cat  with 
her  kittens,  the  first  work  he  had  on  the  line  in  the 
exhibition  of  the  National  Academy.  It  is  one  of  his 
best  pictures.  The  old  cat,  which  served  as  a  model, 
was  very  restless,  having  no  notion  of  sitting  for  her 
portrait,  and  Mrs.  Beard  had  to  hold  her  while  the 
artist  sketched  the  outline  or  laid  on  the  color.  It 
was  during  his  residence  in  Buffalo  that  Mr.  Beard 
went  to  Italy,  where  he  spent  two  years  amid  the 
inspiring  influence  of  Italian  art. 

Two  years  after  his  return  Mr.  Beard  settled  in 
New  York,  where  he  has  remained  ever  since,  paint- 
ing many  works  of  merit  and  celebrity,  and  becoming 
a  member  of  the  National  Academy,  which  entitles 
him  to  add  N.  A.  to  his  name.  Some  years  ago  he 
took  a  long  tour  in  the  South  and  West,  spending 
several  months  among  the  savage  Indians  of  Colo- 
rado, without  losing  his  scalp. 

His  studio  is  in  the  old  Studio  Building  in  10th 
Street,  where  so  many  noted  artists  are  gathered  in  a 
a  cluster  of  somewhat  dim  apartments  resembling 
cells  in  a  convent.    These  studios  arc  filled  with 


OUR  AMERICAN  ARTISTS. 


canvasses  turned  face  to  the  wall,  studies  for  paint- 
ings, plaster  casts,  bits  of  faded  tapestry,  ship  models 
and  artificial  skeletons,  easels,  old  armor  and  antique 
furniture,  and  all  sorts  of  odds  and  ends  of  old 
drapery  and  knick-knacks  picked  up  in  auction  rooms, 
thrown  about  in  tangled,  picturesque  confusion,  which 
a  thrifty  housekeeper  would  like  to  invade  with  ruth- 
less broom  and  duster.  But  there  is  at  least  one 
place  on  this  earth  where  the  dominion  of  the  ever 
busy  and  tidy 
housewife  can- 
not hold  sway, 
and  that  is  the 
studio  of  the  ar- 
tist. A  certain 
degree  of  studied 
untidiness  seems 
essential  to  his 
dreams. 

The  studio  of 
Mr.  Beard  is  an 
epitome  of  his 
artistic  career.  It 
abounds  in 
deer's  horns,  old 
armor,  rusty  fire- 
locks,  stuffed 
owls,  bear's 
skins,  Indian 
arrows  and  what 
not  besides. 
And  as  he  sits  at 
his  easel,  he  is 
thus  surrounded 
by  the  memen- 
toes of  the 
scenes  he  has 
painted,  which 
have  given  de- 
light to  so  many  ;  for  each  of  these  objects  has  aided 
him,  in  turn,  in  putting  his  compositions  on  canvass, 
by  appearing  in  this  or  that  painting.  Mr.  Beard 
is  an  artist  of  large  versatility,  that  is,  he  is  able  to 
represent  almost  anything  he  chooses  to  paint.  He 
is  an  excellent  draughtsman.  He  generally  makes 
careful  drawings  on  the  canvass  first,  so  that  the 
finished  work  is  thus  more  correct  and  clear.  There 
is  nothing  slovenly  or  hasty  in  his  pictures.    His  color 


is  not  laid  on  as  heavily  as  in  the  paintings  of  many 
European  artists,  but  it  does  not  on  that  account  give 
the  impression  of  feebleness.  He  uses  the  primary 
colors  chiefly,  depending  on  the  use  of  few  pigments. 
He  paints  portraits  as  well  as  animals,  and  the  land- 
scape portion  of  his  paintings  is  natural  and  effect- 
ive. 

But  it  is  in  the  rendering  of  animal  life  that  Mr. 
Beard  is  most  widely  known,  and  there  his  genius  is 
seen  to  best  ad- 
vantage. In  such 
subjects  a  double 
purpose  appears 
in  his  pictures : 
one  is  to  give  ex- 
pression to  his 
natural  love  for 
animals;  the 
other  is  to  take 
off  or  satirize  the 
oddities  and 
moral  weak- 
nesses of  his  fel- 
low-men. Thus 
a  group  of  apes 
dressed  in 
clothes  and  as- 
sembled in  a  law- 
yer's office  are 
transformed  by 
his  skillful  brush 
into  caricatures 
of  rustics  going 
to  law.  Or,  in 
his  famous  paint- 
ing called  "The 
Dance  of  Sile- 
nus,"  which  rep- 
resents a  bear 
and  goats  engaged  in  a  tipsy  dance,  the  artist  gives 
us  a  most  vivid  idea  of  the  supreme  silliness  of  human 
beings  when  they  so  far  forget  the  lofty  character  of 
man  as  to  take  too  much  whiskey  or  wine.  It  would 
be  impossible  to  convey  this  idea  more  powerfully 
than  Mr.  Beard  has  done  in  this  painting. 

Another  of  his  notable  works  is  the  "Dance  of  the 
Bears,"  which  is  now  owned  in  Boston.  It  was,  un- 
fortunately injured  in  the  great  fire  in  that  city.  Mr 


OUR  AMERICAN  ARTISTS. 


Beard  has  been  especially  successful  in  painting 
bears,  in  fact  he  might  almost  be  styled  court  painter 
to  the  King  of  the  Bears,  for  no  artist  has  ever  given 
more  attention  to  this  branch  of  natural  history.  Mr. 
Beard's  appreciation  of  the  comical  and  grotesque  has 
placed  him  in  sympathy  with  that  most  comical  of 
all  animals  except  the  monkey,  the  brown  bear.  Not 
only  is  this  bear  amusing  in  his  appearance  and 
movements,  but  he  has  a  great  love  for  fun  himself, 


and  nature  seems  to  have  aided  him  in  this  by  giving 
him  a  flexible  nose  which  he  wrinkles  and  twists  in 
the  most  entertaining  manner  when  he  is  engaged  in 
sport  or  in  playing  off  a  practical  joke.  No  mis- 
chievous school-boy  ever  enjoyed  more  getting  off 
tricks  on  his  school-fellows.  Sometimes  the  bear  is 
rather  rough  in  his  jokes,  but  this  is  because  of  the 
lack  in  his  early  education  rather  than  because  he 
wishes  to  hurt  those  on  whom  he  plays  his  tricks. 


MELON-PATCH 


Mr.  Beard,  among  many  anecdotes  he  has  to  tell 
about  bears,  relates  one  showing  the  bear's  love  of 
fun.  When  he  was  travelling  on  the  Mississippi  River 
there  was  a  large  bear  cub  on  the  steamer  which 
belonged  to  the  captain,  and  was  a  great  pet.  He  was 
quite  tame,  but  loved  a  joke  as  well  as  a  freshman. 
They  kept  him  on  the  hurricane  deck  attached  to  a 
long  chain,  abaft  of  the  wheel-house.  When  they 
wished  to  feed  him  a  ladder  was  placed  against  the 
edge  of  the  deck,  up  which  his  feeder  climbed  from 


d  by  Prof-  / . 


the  lower  deck  with  the  dish  of  food.  One  day  it 
occurred  to  Bruin  that  he  might  have  some  fun  out  of 
the  man  who  brought  him  his  dinner.  So  when  he 
saw  the  ladder  planted  in  its  place,  the  upper  ends 
reaching  two  or  three  feet  above  the  deck,  he  stood 
by  it  in  eager  expectation  until  the  head  of  the  man 
appeared  near  the  upper  rounds.  Then  in  a  twinkling 
he  raised  his  paw  and,  hitting  the  ladder  a  smart  rap, 
threw  ladder  and  man  and  dinner  flat  on  the  deck 
below.    Having  accomplished  this  feat  Bruin  scam- 


OUR  AMERICAN  ARTISTS. 


ered  off  with  a  rollicking,  rolling  gallop,  wrinkling  his 
nose,  showing  his  shining  teeth  and  shaking  all  over 
with  silent  laughter.  But  he  paid  dearly  for  this  prac- 
tical joke,  for  the  captain  gave  him  a  severe  drubbing 
which  made  poor  Bruin  sit  in  the  corner  and  suck  his 
paws  with  mortification  and  disgust. 

"  Bears  on  a  Bender  "  is  one  of  Mr.  Beard's  hap- 
piest efforts  to  delineate  the  fun  in  the  ursine  charac- 
ter, and  the  same  may  be  said  of  the  painting  of 
which  a  copy  is  given  in  our  illustration,  which  was 
kindly  loaned  for  this  purpose  by  Prof.  F.  N.  Otis,  the 
owner.  It  is  evident  that  these  bears  are  where  a 
good  many  boys  would  like  to  be,  in  a  melon  patch 
near  a  cornfield,  stuffing  themselves  with  watermelons. 
Although  watermelons  are  not  intoxicating,  they 
sometimes  bring  on  a  colic,  and  these  comical  poach- 
ers seem  to  be  doing  all  they  can  to  get  a  stomach- 
ache. The  painting  is  rich  in  color,  and  the  pink  red 
of  the  broken  melons  give  it  a  pleasing  effect. 

Mr.  Beard  has  given  much  attention  to  the  study 
of  the  language  by  which  animals  talk  to  each  other. 


There  is  no  doubt  that  by  certain  mysterious  signs  of 
which,  as  yet,  we  have  little  knowledge,  animals  are 
able  actually  to  tell  each  other  stories,  to  give  warn- 
ing, advice,  and  instruction.  One  of  the  most 
interesting  sights  I  ever  saw  was  an  old  pussy  cat 
giving  her  kittens  a  lesson  in  catching  rats.  She 
talked  to  them  by  purring  and  growling,  and  enforced 
her  precepts  by  whipping  one  or  two  of  the  kittens 
who  were  afraid  to  follow  her  instructions  lest  the 
rat  should  bite  them. 

Mr.  Beard  has  a  large  and  interesting  painting  now 
on  his  easel  which  is  full  of  variety  and  life.  It  is 
called  "  Bulls  and  Bears."  It  is  intended  to  repre- 
sent, in  a  comical  way,  the  brokers  of  Wall  Street, 
New  York,  who  are  called  Bulls,  or  Bears,  as  they  may 
happen  to  wish  to  send  stocks  up  or  down.  In  this 
painting  a  disorderly  crowd  of  bulls  and  bears  are 
seen  bellowing  and  roaring,  goring,  tearing,  plung- 
ing and  tumbling  over  each  other  in  the  wildest 
turmoil  and  confusion.  The  satire  it  suggests  is  se- 
vere but  just. 


ILLOWS  STUDIO. 


ALBERT   F.  BELLOWS 


THE  life  and  artistic  career  of  Mr.  Bellows  is 
one  of  the  most  satisfactory  in  the  history  of 
American  art.  While  offering  no  thrilling  tales  of 
adventure  or  startling  episodes,  his  life  is  one  of 
rounded  completeness,  of  effort  properly  directed 
and  aims  successfully  achieved,  and  always  distin- 
guished by  high  moral  character. 

This  artist  is  of  English  descent,  and  his  ancestors 
came  in  the  ship  Hopewell  to  this  country  in  the 
year  1635.  It  was  in  the  old  town  of  Milford,  in 
Massachusetts,  that  he  was  born  about  fifty  years 
ago.  His  father  was  a  physician  who  acquired  repu- 
tation for  several  valuable  works  on  health ;  but  as 


Milford  was  then,  as  now.  a  boot  and  shoe  manufact- 
uring place,  and  as  young  Bellows  showed  no  incli- 
nation to  study  medicine,  it  seemed  only  natural  that 
he  should  grow  up  to  the  business  which  gave  em- 
ployment to  so  many  in  his  native  town. 

But  nothing  was  less  to  his  taste  than  business, 
although  he  has  always  been  methodical  and  careful. 
At  a  very  early  age  the  lad  showed  a  remarkable 
love  for  art,  and  tried  to  draw  pictures  almost  as 
soon  as  his  hand  could  hold  a  slate  pencil.  In  those 
days,  and  even  in  our  day  by  some,  it  was  considered 
in  this  country  that  the  art  career  was  one  to  be 
avoided,  because  it  offered  little  money,  much  hard- 


OUR  AMERICAN  ARTISTS. 


ship    and   disappointment,  and    but    scanty  honor. 

It  was  not  considered  that  there  are  compensations 
or  rewards  which  amply  atone  for  many  of  the  rough 
experiences  which  every  artist  must  encounter, 
whether  he  is  successful  or  no.  These  early  strug- 
gles tend  to  strengthen  the  character,  and  force  the 
artist  to  work  harder  and  do  better  work  ;  while  the 
joy  he  receives  in  dwelling  in  the  fairyland  of  his 
dreams,  and  expressing  his  passion  for  the  beautiful, 
cannot  be  estimated  in 

dollars  and    cents,  and  J0?T:- 
finds  abundant  reward  in  sy 
itself. 

As  a  sort  of  compro- 
mise between  art  and 
business,  it  was  at  length 
decided  that  young  Bel- 
lows should  take  up  the 
profession  of  architect- 
ure, a  pursuit  which  re- 
quires not  only  a  feeling 
of  beauty,  but  strong 
practical  business  com- 
mon-sense and  mathe- 
matical knowledge. 

Although  this  was  not 
altogether  agreeable  to 
him,  Albert  Bellows 
spent  three  years,  labori- 
ously and  conscientious- 
ly, in  the  office  of  Mr.  A. 
B.  Young,  of  Boston,  to 
design  and  build  good 
houses.  But,  at  the  same 
time,  his  thirst  for  art 
was  so  intense  that  every 
spare  moment,  every  op- 
portunity, was  seized  for 

adding  to  his  stock  of  art  ideas.  As  we  look  back 
to  those  years  of  patient,  unremitting  toil,  we  can 
see  that  the  habits  formed  then  must  have  been 
of  great  value  in  preventing  Mr.  Bellows  from  acquir- 
ing the  shiftlessness  which  too  often  adds  sorrow  to 
the  artistic  and  literary  life. 


steady  application  in  this  independent  position  was 
attended  by  more  satisfaction  to  the  patrons  of  the 
new  firm  than  to  the  young  architect,  who  was  every 
day  urged  by  a  growing  impatience  and  art  enthusi- 
asm to  abandon  all  half-way  measures,  and  boldly 
take  up  the  pursuit  for  which  he  longed. 

And  thus  it  came  about  that,  at  the  end  of  the 
year,  being  then  just  twenty-one,  Mr.  Bellows 
"  burned  his  ships  behind  him,"  as  the  phrase  goes, 
when  one  decides  to  cut 
loose  from  the  past  and 
begin  anew  with  a  sole 
regard  for  the  future. 

Fortune,  fickle  as  she 
seems,  still  has  a  special 
liking  for  the  daring  and 
the  bold.  She  cannot 
b  e  successfully  wooed 
by  the  timid.  She  seems 
to  have  been  particularly 
pleased  with  the  deter- 
mined spirit  shown  by 
the  young  artist ;  for,  no 
sooner  had  he  decided 
to  devote  himself  to  art, 
than  he  was  offered 
the  position  of  principal 
of  the  New  England 
School  of  Design,  which 
he  at  once  accepted,  and 
held  until  his  twenty- 
seventh  year. 

In  that  year  Mr.  Bel- 
lows decided  to  go  to 
Europe,  and  therefore 
resigned  his  principal- 
ship.  He  had  already 
matured    his  character 


and  habits  of  observation,  and  gained  a  grounding  in 
the  first  principles  of  art ;  so  that  he  was  thus  pre- 
pared better  to  accept  or  reject  what  he  saw  in  the  art- 
schools  of  the  old  world  than  if  he  had  gone  there 
at  an  earlier  age. 

Mr.  Bellows  arrived  at  Paris  during  the  first  great 
At  the  age  of  twenty  the  student  of  architecture    Exposition,  and  must  naturally  have  been  almost  over- 


had  made  such  progress  in  his  profession  that  he 
was  able  to  enter  into  partnership  with  I.  D.  Toule, 
an  architect  of  established  reputation.    A  year  of 


whelmed  by  the  wealth  of  the  art  treasures  which  he 
saw  on  every  hand.  In  the  galleries  of  the  Louvre 
and  the  Luxembourg  were  many  of  the  master-pieces 


OUR  AMERICAN  ARTISTS. 


of  the  art  of  other  ages,  where  they  still  are  to  inter- 
est and  elevate  the  rising  generations.  In  the  Expo- 
sition, on  the  other  hand,  the  glory  of  English, 
French,  Belgian,  German  and  Spanish  contemporary 
art  dazzled  the  gaze  and  kindled  the  rapture  of  the 
beholder. 

The  writer  himself,  a  mere  youth  at  the  time,  was 
also  present  at  that  Exposition  ;  and  as  he  recalls  the 
indelible  impressions,  the  rapturous  enthusiasm  which 
moved  him  when  he  walked  through  those  magnifi- 
cent collections  of  art ;  as  the  pictures  which  made 
such  an  impression  on  his  boyish  fancy  pass,  one  by 
one,  before  his  eyes  again  while  he  pens  these  lines, 
he  can  easily  understand  the  impression  that  must 
have  been  made  on  the  more  matured  and  experi- 
enced mind  of  the  young  American  artist,  who,  from 
the  comparative  art  scarcity  of  his  native  land,  had 
just  passed  to  the  study  of  such  an  astonishing  treas- 
ure of  art. 

After  carefully  considering  the  different  methods 
and  schools  of  art,  Mr.  Bellows  finally  decided  to  en- 
ter a  course  of  study  at  the  Royal  Academy  of  Ant- 
werp;  and  there  he  passed  several  years  in  that 
grand,  quaint  old  Flemish  town,  where  the  peaked 
roofs,  the  narrow  streets,  the  curious  costumes,  the 
rustic,  picturesque  wagons,  and  the  singular  market- 
places and  gray  antique  towers  fill  the  artist's  soul 
with  joy. 

There  is  the  magnificent  cathedral  whose  spire,  the 
most  beautiful  in  Europe,  an  arrow  pointing  ever- 
more to  heaven,  a  fairylike  shaft  of  stone  lace-work, 
sustains,  high  up  in  the  air,  the  far-famed  chimes 
whose  silvery  melodious  jangling  seems  to  float  down 
from  the  skies. 

There,  too,  are  gathered  the  master-pieces  of  Ru- 
bens, one  of  the  greatest  artists  of  all  the  ages. 
There  he  painted,  there  he  died,  and  there  is  his 
house  to  this  day.  And  Van  Dyke  and  Jordaens, 
and  many  another  celebrated  genius  lived,  and  toiled, 
and  won  immortal  fame  in  that  old  city.  Could  an 
artist  find  a  more  inspiring  spot  than  Antwerp  to  gain 
enthusiasm  and  knowledge  ? 

And  there  the  art  student  from  the  New  World, 
the  only  American  then  studying  in  the  Netherlands, 
pursued  his  studies  with  such  success  that,  in  i8?8, 
he  was  elected  an  honorary  member  of  the  Royal 
Society  of  Painters  of  Belgium. 

After  finishing  his  studies  at  Antwerp,  Mr.  Bellows 


returned  to  America  and  settled  in  New  York.  In 
1858  he  was  elected  an  associate  of  the  National 
Academy  of  Design,  and  in  1861  he  became  an 
Academician.  In  1867  he  revisited  Europe,  giving 
at  that  time  especial  attention  to  the  water-color 
art  of  England  and  France,  and  taking  many  care- 
ful studies  and  sketches,  especially  in  the  former 
country,  with  whose  scenery  his  talents  are  singularly 
in  harmony. 

Many  of  these  charming  studies  of  the  land  of 
our  ancestors  he  has  since  elaborated  into  finished 
paintings.  Two  of  Mr.  Bellows'  works,  one  in  oil, 
the  other  in  water  color,  were  selected  for  exhibition 
in  the  American  department  of  the  last  French  Ex- 
position. 

Among  many  artistic  trips  which  he  has  taken  may 
be  mentioned  a  visit  to  Hot  Springs,  Arkansas,  last 
year,  for  the  health  of  Mrs.  Bellows.  While  there  he 
built  a  temporary  studio,  which  was  nearly  destroyed 
by  the  disastrous  fire  which  swept  over  that  resort. 
At  the  time  of  the  great  fire  in  Boston,  where  he  had 
been  painting  for  a  year  or  two,  his  things  were 
stored  preparatory  to  moving  when  the  fire  consumed 
the  building,  and  with  it  the  paintings,  studies  and  li- 
brary which  had  been  confided  to  its  safe  keeping. 

After  that  catastrophe  Mr.  Bellows  returned  to 
New  York,  and  is  now  situated  in  the  fine  new  Studio 
Building,  on  the  corner  of  Fourth  Avenue  and 
Twenty-Fifth  Street.  He  has  two  spacious  studios, 
one  leading  out  of  the  other,  intended  respectively 
for  oil  and  water-color  painting.  The  illustration 
represents  the  former. 

These  studios  are  elegantly  and  tastefully  fur- 
nished ;  and  while  sufficiently  artistic  in  their  appear- 
ance, are  kept  in  perfect  order,  thus  reflecting  the  sys- 
tematic mental  traits  and  the  quiet  temperament  of 
an  artist  who  has  been  able  to  give  us  so  many  ad- 
mirable works,  and  whose  life  has,  at  the  same  time, 
been  as  even,  methodical,  and  uninterruptedly  suc- 
cessful as  that  of  a  prosperous  East  India  merchant 
Mr.  Bellows  has  one  son  who  is  now  a  practising  phy- 
sician. 

In  coming  to  a  consideration  of  the  art  of  this  ar- 
tist we  find  that  his  ability  is  marked  by  versatility, 
or  a  capacity  to  succeed  in  more  than  one  branch  of 
art.  Many  people  suppose  he  is  only  a  landscape 
painter.  This  is  a  mistake.  His  early  career  was 
devoted  to  figure  and  portrait  painting,  to  which  his 


OUR  AMERICAN  ARTISTS. 


studies  were  largely  directed  at  Antwerp  ;  and  he  has 
given  much  attention  to  genre,  that  is,  groups  repre- 
senting familiar,  every-day  scenes  of  domestic  life. 
This  skill  in  drawing  figures  has  enabled  Mr.  Bellows 
to  give  greater  interest  to  his  landscapes.  In  the  ac- 
companying illustration  of  his  work,  the  clever  group- 
ing of  men  and  horses  adds  attractiveness  to  a  very 
pleasing  and  well-treated  subject. 

Gradually  his  great  love  of  nature  and  out-of-door 
life  led  Mr.  Bellows  to  devote  himself,  more  and 


more,  to  painting  the  grace  aud  freshness  of  the  quiet, 
undulating  meadow-lands,  rustic  lanes,  and  quaint 
thatched  farm-houses  of  the  Isle  of  Wight,  and  the 
noble,  vividly-tinted  landscapes  of  our  own  country. 
Every  one,  who  loves  the  stately  beauty  of  the  ave- 
nues of  elms  which  give  such  an  indescribable  charm 
to  the  towns  and  hamlets  of  New  England,  owes  a 
debt  of  gratitude  to  Mr.  Bellows  for  the  interest  he 
has  shown,  and  the  success  he  has  achieved  in  paint- 
ing these  scenes,  which  are  so  dear  to  every  native 


ST.V,F-OJ,\CHING  IN 


American  heart  and  especially  to  all  New  Englanders. 

Of  all  the  trees  which  beautify  this  world  there  are 
two  which  are  especially  fitted  to  adorn  the  abodes 
of  man  ;  these  are  the  plane  tree  and  the  elm.  The 
former  grows  in  America,  but  never  reaches  to  such 
wide-spreading  magnificence  as  in  Asia.  Many  an 
ancient  town  of  the  East  owes  its  attractiveness  to 
its  groups  of  plane  trees,  haunted  by  the  nightingale 
and  overshadowing  silvery  fountains. 

But  we,  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic,  can  take  es. 


.    {From  a  Painting  by  A.F.  Bellows.) 

pecial  pride  in  the  elm.  Nowhere  else  as  in  Amer- 
ica does  it  throw  out  such  long,  grateful  arms,  such 
exquisite  curves  in  the  massing  of  its  foliage,  or  rear 
its  crest  of  green  on  such  gracefully  majestic  stems. 
No  farm-house  is  complete  without  one  such  venera- 
ble guardian  to  shield  it  from  the  storms,  and  to  af- 
ford a  grateful  shade  under  which  the  children  can 
sport  in  the  summer  days.  Both  in  water  and  oil- 
colors  Mr.  Bellows  has  been  equally  successful  in 
representing  the  imperial  beauty  of  the  elm. 


OUR  AMERICAN  ARTISTS. 


This  artist,  as  you  may  have  already  perceived,  has 
painted  both  in  oil  and  water-color.  The  former 
was  the  medium  he  first  employed,  and  to  which  he 
still  gives  much  attention.  Like  some  artists  who 
have  great  facility  and  know  clearly  what  they  intend 
to  do,  he  often  paints  a  picture  wholly  with  the  knife, 
without  using  a  brush. 

This  knife,  or  spatula,  is  made  of  steel,  very  thin 
and  flexible  ;  and  to  use  it  in  laying  on  color  is  to 
give  greater  purity  to  the  tints  ;  for  the  less  colors  are 
mixed  and  worked  over  the  more  clear  and  atmos- 
pheric is  the  painting.  But  one  cannot  work  with 
the  palette-knife  unless  he  knows  what  he  is  about  ; 
for  as  the  color  is  laid  so  it  must  stay,  and  if  not 
skillfully  done  the  picture  is  liable  to  look  painty. 

But  for  the  last  few  years  Mr.  Bellows  has  given 
much  attention  to  aquarelle  or  water-color  painting, 
being  one  of  the  pioneers  in  this  branch  of  art  in 
America,  and  one  of  the  most  successful  water-color 
painters  of  the  age. 

To  paint  with  water-colors  was  the  rule  for  many 
ages  before  the  process  of  using  colors  mixed  with  oil 
was  invented,  or,  at  least,  much  employed.  The 
paintings  of  the  ancients,  such  as  the  wall-paintings 
or  frescoes  of  Pompeii,  and  even  the  works  of 
Michael  Angelo,  were  done  with  water-colors  or  pig- 
ments, laid  on  with  wax  applied  hot.  The  ancients 
knew  something  about  oil-colors,  but  it  was  not  until 
the  time  of  John  and  Hubert  Van  Eyck  of  Holland, 
in  the  fifteenth  century,  that  painting  in  oil-colors 
became  general. 

After  that  time  water-colors  almost  fell  into  disuse 
until  their  use  was  revived  early  in  this  century  by 
the  fresco  or  wall-painters  of  Munich,  and  a  school  of 
very  brilliant  artists  in  England,  who  employed  aqua- 
relles painting  what  are  called  easel  or  small  paintings. 

Among  the  most  noted  of  these  English  water- 
color  painters  were  Girtin,  Turner,  David  Cox,  Sam- 


uel Prout  and  Copley  Fielding.  Some  of  the  effects 
of  nature  which  they  succeeded  in  reproducing  were 
wonderfully  well  done.  These  English  artists  worked 
entirely  without  opaque  or  body  color.  And  this 
leads  me  to  tell  you  that  there  are  two  kinds  of  wa- 
ter-color painting.  One,  or  the  earliest  school,  de- 
pends, for  the  whites  or  strong  lights  in  the  picture, 
entirely  on  the  white  color  of  the  paper  on  which  the 
picture  is  painted.  This  is  done  either  by  leaving 
certain  parts  untouched  by  color  or  by  scratching  off 
the  color  where  a  bright  light  is  needed.  Great  skill 
and  readiness  is  necessary  in  this  kind  of  water-color, 
but  the  effect  is  to  give  a  rich,  transparent,  atmos- 
pheric effect,  such  as  it  is  very  difficult  to  obtain  with 
oil-colors. 

The  other  and  later  school  of  water-colorists  de- 
pend for  their  high  lights  on  the  use  of  white  lead  or 
Chinese  white,  which  is  the  most  opaque  of  all  pig- 
ments ;  and,  therefore,  when  laid  over  any  other 
color  it  conceals  it,  and  comes  out  so  prominently  as 
to  represent  light.  This  school  also  mixes  white  or 
body  color  with  the  other  colors,  in  order  to  give  the 
solid  appearance  of  oil  painting.  But,  while  many 
pleasing  pictures  are  painted  by  the  latter  method, 
the  richness  of  oil-color  is  not  wholly  reached,  while 
the  exquisite  airiness  of  simple  water-color,  unaided 
by  the  addition  of  opaque  color,  is  almost  entirely 
lost. 

Mr.  Bellows  works  almost  entirely  in  the  style  of 
the  old  school,  very  rarely  using  white,  and  then  only 
to  give  force  to  some  small  point,  perhaps  a  distant 
sail,  or  a  far-away  farm-house  on  a  hillside. 

The  reader  should  try  to  study  the  difference  be- 
tween oil  and  water-colors,  and  between  the  two 
methods  of  water-color  painting,  and  he  will  be  sur- 
prised to  find  how  much  he  will  thus  learn  of  differ- 
ent art  processes  and  of  many  effects  in  nature  which, 
perhaps,  he  has  never  seen  before. 


MR  GIFFORD'S  STUDIO. 


ROBERT    SWAIN  GIFFORD. 


THE  boy  or  girl  who  will  turn  to  the  map  of 
New  England  will  see  on  the  southern  coast  of 
Massachusetts  a  gulf,  called  Buzzard's  Bay.  The 
•southern  or  seaward  side  of  this  bay  is  formed  by 
a  picturesque  group  called  the  Elizabeth  Islands. 
Tufted  with  wild,  weather-beaten  cedars,  and  lashed 
by  the  terrible  surges  of  the  Atlantic  storms,  these 
gray,  granite  isles  have  seen  many  a  shipwreck  since 
the  Pilgrims  first  landed  on  the  shores  of  old  Massa- 
chusetts. 

One  of  these  islands  bears  the  Indian  name  of 
Naushan  ;  and  there,  some  forty  years  ago,  was  born 
the  landscape  and  marine  painter,  R.  S.  Gifford. 

While  he  was  still  very  young  his  father  moved  to 
New  Bedford,  famous  as  a  whaling  port  ;  and  in 


those  days  its  wharves  were  thronged  with  whalers 
returning  from  far  off  seas  or  fitting  out  for  long 
cruises  in  arctic  regions.  Everything  about  the 
water-side  of  the  old  town  was  adapted  to  stimulate 
a  love  for  the  sea  in  the  boy  who  rambled  about  the 
docks  and  jostled  against  burly  tars  who  had  strange, 
wild,  and  often  incredible  yarns  to  spin  of  adventures 
by  land  and  sea.  Young  Gifford's  father  owned  a 
sailboat,  and  the  lad  passed  many  exciting  hours 
sailing  about  the  bay,  until  he  began  to  have  a  long- 
ing to  express  his  feelings  with  a  pencil. 

About  that  time  the  marine  painter  Van  Beest, 
who  was  a  bluff,  hearty,  outspoken  Dutchman,  came 
to  New  Bedford  and  put  up  a  studio.  But  this  artist 
knew  little  about  the  rig  and  build  of  American 


OUR  AMERICAN  ARTISTS. 


ships,  and  therefore  sometimes  employed  Mr.  Brad- 
ford, who  has  since  become  famous  for  painting  ice- 
bergs, to  draw  the  ships  for  him.  After  Mr.  Brad- 
ford left,  Van  Beest  asked  young  Gifford  to  become 
his  ship-builder,  if 
we  may  so  use 
the  phrase.  The 
youth  had  already 
found  his  way  to 
the  studio  of  the 
Dutch  artist  and 
taken  lessons 
from  him  in  draw- 
ing and  painting. 
This  was  done  at 
first  in  the  face 
of  much  opposi- 
tion from  his 
friends,  although 
they  relented 
when  they  saw 
how  bent  he  was 
to  become  an  ar- 
tist, and  what 
ability  he  seemed 
to  have  for  such  a 
pursuit. 

After  a  while 
Van  Beest  re- 
turned to  New 
York  and  pro- 
posed to  his 
assistant  to  ac- 
company him, 
offering  him  a 
proportionate 
share  of  the  sales 
from  his  paint- 
ings, if  he  would 
continue  to  work 
with  him  as  be- 
fore. 

This  arrange- 
ment lasted  for 
several  years,  until  the  young  artist,  feeling  that  he 
was  now  able  to  work  better  alone,  settled  in  Boston 
in  1864,  where  he  soon  achieved  a  decided  success; 
although  it  must  be  added  that,  while  he  gained  rep- 


utation in  Boston,  he  sold  most  of  his  pictures  in  New 
York  and  elsewhere.  In  1866  Mr.  Gifford  returned 
again  to  New  York,  where  he  has  since  resided,  except 
when  abroad,  and  has  been  elected  an  Associate  of  the 
National  Acad- 
emy, and  become 
professor  at  the 
Art  School  of  the 
Cooper  Institute. 

During  the  first 
half  of  his  art  life 
Mr.  Gifford  con- 
fined himself  to 
the  painting  of 
marine  and  coast 
scenes ;  among 
others  a  scene 
from  the  great 
ocean  yacht  race, 
sailed  by  the  fa- 
mous yachts  Hen- 
rietta, Vesta  and 
Fleetwing. 
Anxious  to  en- 
large his  field  of 
observation  and 
e  x  p  erience,  he 
made  a  trip 
through  Oregon 
and  California  in 
1869,  where  the 
scenery  so  at- 
tracted him  that 
he  took  many  in- 
teresting sketches 
which  led  him,  if 
not  altogether  to 
abandon  marine 
art,  at  least  to  de- 
vote his  attention 
chiefly  to  land- 
scape painting. 

A  year  or  two 
later  Mr.  Gifford 
went  to  Europe,  and  gave  himself  up  to  romantic 
wanderings  through  the  South  of  Europe  ;  and,  crossing 
the  Mediterranean,  allowed  his  fancy  to  revel  in  the 
wonderfully  interesting   and  picturesque  cities  and 


OUR  AMERICAN  ARTISTS. 


wilds  of  Egypt  and  Morocco,  which  resulted  in  some 
very  interesting  works  and  had  a  very  decided  influ- 
ence on  the  aims  and  methods  of  his  art. 

In  1874  Mr.  Gifford  again  visited  the  Old  World 
with  Mrs.  Gifford,  who  accompanied  her  husband 
through  the  grandly  savage  mountain  passes  of  Cor- 
sica, the  island  where  Napoleon  was  born.  Herself 
a  spirited  artist,  Mrs.  Gifford  was  able  to  appreciate 
the  romantic  beauty  of  the  bare,  lion-haunted  moun- 
tain crags  of  Algeria,  where  they  next  passed  sev- 
eral fascinating  months,  studying  the  oriental  customs 
and  architecture  of  Algiers,  and  the  swarthy  Arab 
tribes  who  dwelt  in  goats'-hair  tents  on  the  edge  of 
the  desert,  or  in  grim  fortresses  on  the  pinnacles 
of  the  Atlas  mountains. 

Although  the  French  have  been  masters  of  Algeria 
ever  since  the  long  warfare  which  ended  in  the  cap- 
ture of  the  heroic  Abdel  Kader,  who  for  long  years 
so  bravely  resisted  the  invaders  in  vain  at  the  head 
of  his  mounted  warriors,  the  country  is  still  much  as 
it  was  of  old.  The  people  are  allowed  to  follow  their 
own  customs,  and  so  long  as  they  do  not  resist 
the  authority  of  the  French,  are  left  very  much  to 
themselves.  They  are  mostly  descended  from  the 
Mauritanians,  of  whom  some  of  you  have  read  in 
Roman  history.  They  were  fierce  horsemen  who, 
under  Jugurtha,  gave  the  Roman  legions  much 
trouble  before  they  could  be  conquered. 

They  are  Mohammedans.  Their  women  go  veiled 
in  the  street,  and  in  the  cities  live  in  houses  whose 
windows  are  carefully  screened  with  lattices  to  pre- 
vent anyone  from  looking  in.  The  men  are  tall, 
handsome,  massively  built,  and  stern  and  warlike ; 
and  the  laws,  as  with  all  Eastern  people,  are 
bloody. 

The  scenery  of  Algeria  is  half  tropical,  and  the  cli- 
mate dry  and  hot.  Camels  are  employed  to  carry 
merchandise,  and  here  and  there  a  graceful  cluster 
of  palms,  outlined  against  the  cloudless  sky,  indicate 
where  wells  may  be  found  to  slake  the  thirst  of  the 
passing  caravan.  Overhead  the  buzzard  watches  for 
his  prey ;  or  the  vulture,  circling  a  mere  speck  in  the 
sky,  wheels  his  long  flight  over  the  solitude,  ever 
waiting  to  dart  on  a  dying  camel  or  a  wounded 
jackal. 

Amid  these  strangely  attractive  and  romantic 
scenes  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Gifford  lingered  several  months, 
enriching  their  portfolios  with  vivid  pictures  of  the 


people,  the  wild  birds,  and  the  wilder  scenery  about 
them. 

At  one  time  they  halted  for  the  night  in  the  house 
'of  an  Arab  chieftain,  where  they  were  very  hos- 
pitably entertained  with  pilaff,  made  of  rice,  a  whole 
roast  lamb,  and  tropical  fruits.  Around  the  recep- 
tion-hall niches  were  seen  in  the  thick  wall,  in  which 
the  retainers  of  the  chief  slept  at  night.  Their  long 
guns  and  spears  were  hung  here  and  there  on  the 
walls.  Some  weeks  before  the  travellers  were  there, 
a  dozen  men,  who  were  supposed  to  have  formed  a 
conspiracy  against  the  chief,  had  been  treacherously 
seized  and  beheaded  without  trial  in  that  very  hall, 
and  their  heads  were  arranged  about  the  room. 

Some  of  Mr.  Gifford's  most  interesting  paintings 
are  from  scenes  suggested  by  his  travels  in  Algeria. 
One  of  his  largest  works,  that  was  exhibited  at  the 
Centennial,  is  a  painting  of  the  famous  Rock  of 
Gibralter,  which  looks  southward  towards  the  opposite 
coast  of  Africa  and  the  land  of  the  Moor. 

Another  result  of  his  last  trip  to  Europe  is  also 
evident  in  a  gradual  change  in  the  style  of  this  artist. 
His  earlier  art  was  executed  in  a  very  finished  way  ; 
but  his  observations  of  French  art  have  led  him  to 
adopt  a  bolder  method  of  using  colors. 

The  tendency  of  art  at  present,  in  Europe  and 
with  the  younger  and  newer  American  artists,  is  to 
treat  a  subject  broadly.  This  term  does  not  refer 
to  the  size  of  the  picture  but  the  way  in  which  a  sub- 
ject is  treated.  Some  painters  finish  their  work  with 
great  delicacy  and  very  careful  reproduction  of  every 
detail.  The  most  remarkable  instance  of  this  kind  of 
treatment  is  shown  in  the  portraits  painted  two  hundred 
years  ago  by  Denner,  a  German  artist,  who  actually 
reproduced  every  hair,  and  seemed  even  to  represent 
the  down  and  pores  of  the  skin  of  the  face.  This  is 
an  extreme  instance  of  painting  carried  to  the  last 
degree  of  finish. 

The  clanger  of  this  sort  of  art  is.  that  the  general 
effect,  which  is  after  all  the  chief  thing  in  a  picture, 
is  in  clanger  of  being  sacrificed  to  details.  Amer- 
ican landscape  art  has  never  approached  such  a 
degree  of  laborious  finish :  but  it  has  sometimes 
showed  too  much  regard  for  details.  Another  fault 
of  which  it  might  be  accused  is,  that  it  has  too  often 
been  weak  because  the  pigments  were  laid  on  too 
thinly.  This  is  not  always  a  fault,  as  it  is  a  matter 
which  depends  very  much  on  the  subject.    Still,  it  is 


OUR  AMERICAN  ARTISTS. 


perhaps  better  to  err  on  the  other  side,  after  the 
methods  followed  by  the  old  Dutch  painters,  and 
now  adopted  by  most  of  the  leading  artists  of  the 
age  ;  that  is,  to  lay  on  the  colors  solidly,  thus  gain- 
ing more  force  and  freshness  in  the  representation 
of  nature. 

Now,  to  paint  the  reverse  of  the  extremely  finished 
style  I  have  been  describing,  is  called  painting 
broadly.  A  landscape  painting  or  a  portrait  in 
which  many  of  the  details  are  entirely  omitted  or 
merely  suggested,  and  in  which  the  general  effect  is 
always  the  prominent  idea  of  the  work,  is  said  to 
have  breadth. 

It  is  the  latter  style  that  Mr.  Gifford  has  gradually 


adopted,  keeping  the  light  and  shades,  and  the 
objects  of  a  painting  well  massed,  and  thus  gaining 
a  grand  effect.  There  is  no  uncertainty  in  the  way 
in  which  he  handles  his  brush  ;  he  knows  what  he 
wishes  to  do,  and  does  it.  Painting  in  water-colors 
has  doubtless  been  of  value  to  him  in  producing  the 
desired  effect  in  his  oil  paintings,  for  the  certainty 
required  in  using  water-colors  leads  to  readiness  in 
knowledge,  and  thus  one  is  able  to  lay  on  his  colors 
in  such  a  way  that  he  does  not  need  to  work  over 
them  too  much.  Some  of  the  water-color  paintings 
of  Mr.  Gifford  are  remarkably  fresh,  pure  and  lumi- 
nous in  their  effect.  He  paints  much  out-of-doors 
during  the  season,  and  his  most  recent  trips  after 


studies  have  been  to  the  coast  around  Buzzard's  Bay 
and  to  the  lovely,  palm-encircled  shores  of  Fort 
George  Island  on  the  coast  of  Florida. 

It  is  an  interesting  fact  in  the  art-life  of  this  artist, 
that  after  wandering  from  California  to  Algeria  for 
studies,  he  has  at  last  returned  to  the  haunts  of  his 
boyhood  as  the  field  which  offers  him  the  most 
congenial  subjects  for  his  brush.  Many  of  you  have 
doubtless  often  seen  along  our  New  England  coast 
brown,  ragged  clumps  of  solemn  weird  cedars,  whose 
gnarled  and  singularly  twisted  branches  spread  like 
deers'  antlers.  Tufted  with  tough,  spiky  foliage, 
they  sway  and  moan  drearily  in  the  gales  which  scourge 
the  shores,  as  if   they  were  ancient,  age-withered 


Indian  sachems  left  there  alone  to  wail  for  their  long 
departed  race.  These  wild  cedars,  these  gray  shores, 
the  russet  grass  which  sighs  in  the  autumnal  winds 
on  the  bare  rocks  and  lonely  moors,  fading  off  into 
the  far-off  horizon,  and  canopied  by  cool  gray  masses 
of  clouds  through  which  a  gleam  of  light  steals  here 
and  there,  these  are  what  Mr.  Gifford  has  chosen  as 
fit  subjects  from  which  to  gather  inspiration  for  his 
versatile  talents. 

Mr.  Gifford's  studio  is  in  the  building  of  the 
Young  Men's  Christian  Association  in  Twenty-third 
Street,  New  York,  whose  two  upper  stories  are  occu- 
pied exclusively  by  artists.  The  studio  is  adorned 
with  many  interesting  objects  collected  in  the  East. 


MR.  chase's  studio.    {Drawn  by  himself.) 


WILLIAM    M.  CHASE. 


THE  artist  whose  name  is  at  the  head  of  this 
article  was  born  in  the  state  of  Indiana,  and 
is  still  comparatively  a  young  man.  He  early 
showed  a  very  decided  turn  for  art,  manifesting  a  dis- 
position to  draw  almost  as  soon  as  he  could  handle  a 
slate  and  pencil.  But,  although  his  parents  were  in 
excellent  circumstances,  he  met  with  some  opposi- 
tion when  he  first  spoke  of  becoming  a  painter. 

It  is  the  most  common  thing  in  the  world  for  boys 
who  show  an  inclination  to  follow  painting  to  be 
opposed  in  their  wishes ;  but  if  they  have  a  real 
genius  for  such  a  life  no  opposition  can  prevent  them 
from  succeeding,  but  will  rather  strengthen  their  charac- 
ter, and  the  opportunity  comes  sooner  or  later  which 
they  desire.    And  so  it  proved  in  the  case  of  the 


young  Hoosier  lad.  His  father  finally  permitted  him 
to  take  lessons  in  painting,  and  placed  him  with  an 
artist  in  his  native  place,  who  soon  declared  that 
William  was  destined  to  succeed  in  the  pursuit  he  so 
ardently  loved. 

But,  after  a  year  with  his  first  master,  young  Chase 
was  seized  by  the  war  fever  which  inspired  so  many 
with  a  love  of  arms  at  the  breaking  out  of  our  great 
civil  war,  and  partly,  also,  from  a  love  of  adventure 
and  an  idea  that  he  should  like  the  sea,  he  entered 
the  school-ship  at  the  Naval  Academy  of  Annapolis. 
There  he  had  rather  a  severe  experience,  which  took 
away  whatever  ambition  he  may  have  had  at  one 
time  for  a  sea  life.  One  of  the  petty  officers,  under 
whose  charge  he  was,  seemed  to  employ  every  way 


OUR  AMERICAN  ARTISTS. 


he  could  think  of  to  worry  and  abuse  the  boys  of 
the  school-ship,  and  took  an  especial  spite  to  young 
Chase  because  he  appeared  above  the  position  in 
which  he  was  placed.  It  was  therefore  a  matter  of 
sober  exultation  among  the  young  sailors  when  this 
tyrant  lost  his  foothold  one  day  while  they  were  cat- 
ting or  getting  the  anchor  on  board  and,  falling  into 
the  sea,  was  drowned.  To  the  boys  whom  he  had 
so  cruelly  treated  this  dreadful  fate  seemed  only  a 
just  retribution. 

This  rough  experi- 
ence soon  took  away 
from  William  what- 
ever fancy  he  might 
have  had  for  a  sea 
life  ;  and  his  desire  to 
return  to  his  palette 
and  brushes  again 
was  greatly  increased 
by  seeing  one  of  the 
officers,  who  was 
something  of  an  ar- 
tist, employing  his 
leisure  moments  in 
painting  on  deck. 
The  boy-artist  would 
steal  up  behind  the 
long-boat  and  snatch 
a  glimpse  of  the  artist 
at  his  easel. 

After  being  three 
months  under  the 
discipline  of  the 
school-ship,  William 
Chase  gave  up  all 
idea  of  becoming  a 
Sailor  and  went  back 
to  his  brush  with  more 
enthusiasm  than  ever. 


{Drawn  by 


After  a  year  in  Indianapolis  he  came  to  New  York 
and  studied  awhile,  and  then  resided  two  years  in  St. 
Louis,  where  he  chiefly  painted  still  life,  that  is,  fruit 
pieces  and  game. 

Returning  again  to  New  York,  and  after  painting  and 
teaching  there  until  1872,  he  decided  in  that  year  to 
gratify  his  yearning  for  larger  opportunities  for  study 
and  improvement  than  seemed  to  offer  in  his  native 
land,  and  embarked  for   Europe,  whose  galleries, 


teeming  with  the  works  of  old  masters,  and  whose 
studios,  thronged  with  the  students  of  all  lands,  are 
a  perpetual  fascination  to  the  enthusiastic  art-stu- 
dent. 

It  was  in  the  old  city  of  Munich,  in  the  heart  of 
Germany,  that  William  Chase  decided  to  settle  and 
study  art  for  several  years.  Munich  is  the  capital 
of  Bavaria.  The  name  means  the  "  City  of  the  Little 
Monk."  It  lies  by  the  river  Iser,  of  which  you  may 
have  read  in  Camp- 
bell's ode  on  the 
"  Battle  of  Hohen- 
linden."  The  river 
there  divides  into 
many  channels,  and 
rushes  with  great 
speed  through  one  of 
the  most  beautiful 
parks  in  the  world, 
called  the  English 
Garden  ;  it  was  laid 
out  by  an  American 
scientist  named 
Thompson,  who  be- 
came prime  minister 
to  the  King  of  Bava- 
ria, and  was  ennobled 
by  him  under  the 
title  of  Count  Rum- 
ford. 

Munich  is  a  beauti- 
ful city,  laid  out  in 
broad  streets  and 
adorned  with  many 
splendid  buildings  — 
palaces,  picture-gal- 
leries, triumphal 
arches,  and  churches 
which  are  very  hand- 
some and  often  highly  artistic. 

The  late  King  of  Bavaria  was  an  eccentric  man  ; 
but  he  had  a  great  love  of  art  and  did  all  in  his 
power  to  encourage  artists  to  settle  in  Munich.  It 
became,  therefore,  more  a  city  of  artists  than  any 
other  place,  in  proportion  to  its  population.  Fine 
art-schools  were  established,  and  the  best  painters 
and  sculptors  in  Germany  were  invited  to  become 
professors  in  the  Royal  Academy  of  Art. 


OUR  AMERICAN  ARTISTS. 


When  the  young  American  artist  arrived  in 
Munich  he  found  quite  a  colony  of  his  fellow-coun- 
trymen already  studying  art  there ;  and  the  number 
increased  from  year  to  year  while  he  remained  at  the 


IPPRENTICE-BOY 


fainting  by  Wm.  M.  Chase. 


Bavarian  capital.  Soon  these  American  art-students 
became  sufficiently  numerous  to  establish  among 
themselves  an  association  for  the  encouragement  of 


art  progress.  Meetings  were  held  weekly,  at  which 
papers  were  read  on  art  subjects  and  afterwards  dis- 
cussed in  a  friendly  but  earnest  manner. 

There  is  no  question  about  which  there  is  room  for 
greater  difference  of  opinion  than  art, 
or  more  opportunity  for  individual 
expression  and  improvement.  For 
what  art  undertakes  to  do  is  to 
reproduce  nature  with  such  material 
substances  as  paints,  crayon  or  mar- 
ble. But  as  these  means  for  doing  so 
are  at  best  very  imperfect,  the  most 
that  can  often  be  done  is  to  suggest 
nature,  and  in  this  way,  also,  to  sug- 
gest what  is  called  the  ideal ;  that  is, 
to  represent  scenes  as  they  appear  to 
the  fancy  or  imagination. 

But  there  are  many  things  in  nature. 
It  would  be  impossible  to  give  in  any 
one  work  of  art  everything  that  may 
be  actually  seen  in  any  particular 
scene,  or  any  imaginary  composition 
if  it  resembled  nature.  Therefore 
some  artists,  either  deliberately  or 
because  their  talents  lie  in  one  direc- 
tion, undertake  to  represent  one  or 
two  of  the  objects  in  nature  which 
most  interest  and  impress  them  ;  while 
others  attempt  to  reproduce  another 
class  of  objects  or  impressions. 

Thus  one  artist  is  most  interested 
in  light  and  shade,  and  gives  more 
attention  to  that  than  to  color.  An- 
other painter,  like  Titian  or  Rubens, 
may  be  more  moved  by  color  than 
anything  else  in  nature ;  while  a  third 
artist  may  care  most  for  form,  and 
devotes  his  attention  to  sculpture  or 
to  very  careful  drawing.    Each  artist  of 
original  ability  also  tries  to  express  his 
thoughts  in  a  style  of  his  own ;  and 
as  there  are  many  truths  in  nature 
and  many  artists  to  express  them, 
there  must  be  many  different  styles. 
Every  age  and  every  country  also 
has  a  class  of  subjects  or  methods  distinct  from  others. 
Some  are  better,  others  inferior  ;  while  others,  which 
may  be  equal  in  value  may  not  be  equally  liked  by  alL. 


OUR  AMERICAN  ARTISTS. 


This  diversity  naturally  causes  great  variety  of  opin- 
ions and  often  very  earnest  talk  among  artists  and 
art-lovers,  each  being  anxious  to  find  the  best  style, 
or  thinking  that  the  style  he  follows  or  prefers  is,  by 
far,  the  best. 

It  is  by  talking  of  a  thing  that  we  often  learn  how 
to  understand  it.  But  every  one  should  try  to  be 
modest  about  his  own  opinions  and  tolerant  of  the 
opinions  of  others,  and  not  be  too  sure  that  he  is  the 
only  one  who  knows  the  question  thoroughly. .  While 
this  is  true  about  everything,  it  is  especially  so 
regarding  art  matters. 

Mr.  Chase  entered  the  government  Art  School  at 
Munich,  and  became  a  pupil  of  Piloty,  who  is  one  of 
the  great  German  historical  painters  of  this  century. 

Many  art-students  have  studied  with  him,  some  of 
them  men  of  genius  who  have  in  turn  worked  in 
styles  more  fresh  and  original  than  that  of  their  mas- 
ter. Among  these  able  artists  are  Leibl,  Diez, 
Defregger  and  Lembach.  While  studying  with 
Piloty  these  painters  also  carefully  examined  the  time- 
mellowed  paintings  of  Rembrandt,  Franz  Hals, 
Velasquez,  and  other  great  Flemish  and  Spanish 
artists,  which  were  hung  in  the  royal  galleries  at 
Munich  —  artists  who,  in  strength,  boldness  and 
beauty  of  style,  were  among  the  first  painters  of  mod- 
ern times. 

While  studying  with  Piloty  and  having  a  great 
respect  for  him,  Mr.  Chase  found  his  inclination 
leading  him  rather  to  follow  the  guidance  of  the 
later  painters  of  Munich,  and  to  prefer  simple  subjects, 
carefully  and  harmoniously  composed,  with  a  strong 
method  of  laying  on  color.  He  had  his  studio  in  the 
upper  story  of  the  royal  Art  School,  which  is  a  vast, 
ancient  building  that  was  in  olden  time  a  convent, 
and  stands  next  to  a  church.  The  monks  have  left  it 
and  now  the  artists  fill  its  cells  and  halls,  and  with  the 
brilliant  tints  of  their  canvasses  give  life  to  the 
gloom  of  the  mouldering  pile.  Duveneck,  who  is 
one  of  the  most  talented  American  artists  now  in 
Europe,  had  a  studio  in  the  same  corridor. 

Besides  gaining  decided  success  in  painting  some 
vigorous  and  interesting  pictures,  before  leaving 
Munich,  Mr.  Chase  also  won  the  approval  not  only 
of  his  countrymen  but  also  of  the  German  artists 
themselves.  His  master,  Piloty,  paid  a  very  high 
compliment  to  his  abilities  by  asking  him  to  paint  the 
portraits  of  his  family,  which  the  young  American 
artist  did  with  much  credit. 


Among  the  later  works  Mr.  Chase  executed  during 
his  residence  at  Munich  were  two  or  three  of  marked 
excellence  which  have  attracted  much  attention. 
One  of  them  is  called  the  "  Court  Jester."  It  rep- 
resents a  humpbacked  clown  with  cap  and  bells, 
such  a  character  as  used  to  entertain  kings  and  nobles 
in  old  time  with  comical  wit.  He  is  clad  in  scarlet 
coat  and  hose,  and  is  pouring  out  a  glass  of  wine. 
The  general  effect  of  color  is  superb. 

Another  picture  called  "  Waiting  for  the  Ride,"  is 
a  most  complete  contrast  to  the  "Jester."  It  is 
extremely  simple  but  none  the  less  effective.  A 
young  lady  of  a  delicate  complexion  and  a  refined 
style  of  beauty  appears  before  us  dressed  in  a  black 
riding-habit,  and  wearing  a  picturesque,  broad- 
brimmed,  bell-crowned  hat.  She  holds  a  whip  in 
her  hand  and  is  in  the  act  of  drawing  on  her  glove. 

Mr.  Chase  uses  color  with  freshness  and  vigor. 
He  has  given  very  careful  study  to  the  many  tints  of 
flesh,  and  is  equally  successful  in  giving  the  soft 
complexion  of  a  young  girl  or  the  rough,  highly-col- 
ored features  of  a  veteran  or  an  apprentice-boy. 
His  handling  or  style  is  what  would  be  called  broad  ; 
because  everything  is  sacrificed  or  made  to  contribute 
in  his  paintings  to  the  general  effect.  The  danger 
of  such  a  style  lies  in  the  unfinished  appearance  to 
which  a  painting  is  liable  if  left  off  too  soon. 

In  the  summer  of  1878  Mr.  Chase  accepted  a  posi- 
tion as  a  professor  in  the  new  art  school  of  New 
York,  called  the  Art  Students'  League.  His  studio 
is  in  that  city,  in  the  Tenth  Street  Studio  Building, 
It  is  one  of  the  most  artistic  in  the  country  ;  for  the 
artist  brought  home  with  him  a  great  variety  of  curi- 
ous and  interesting  objects  which  he  picked  up 
abroad,  especially  during  a  visit  which  he  made  to 
Venice.  There  he  collected  wonderful  bits  of  old 
bronze  and  beautifully  carved  oaken  chests,  like  the 
one  in  which  Genevra  hid  herself  on  her  bridal  day 
when  the  lock  sprung  and  the  falling  lid  closed  her 
in  forever. 

Faded  tapestries  that  might  tell  strange  stories, 
quaint  decorated  stools,  damaskeened  blades  and  gro- 
tesque flint-locks,  and  elaborately  carved  mugs  and 
salvers,  are  picturesquely  arranged  around  the  studio 
with  a  studied  carelessness,  together  with  choice 
specimens  of  the  works  of  several  of  the  leading 
German  artists  of  the  day.  It  is  altogether  a  nook 
rich  in  attractions  which  carry  the  fancy  back  to 
other  climes  and  the  romance  of  bygone  ages. 


SANFORD    R .  GIFFORD. 


THERE  are  two  rivers  which,  above  all  others, 
have  become  famous  for  the  beauty  of  their 
scenery,  the  Rhine  and  the  Hudson.  The  former 
lias  the  charm  of 
romantic  castles 
and  legends  to  add 
to  the  loveliness  of 
its  shores.  But  if 
the  Hudson  lacks 
these  attractions, 
it  has  no  less  nat- 
ural beauty,  and,  in 
some  places,  more 
grandeur  than  its 
rival.  Each  river 
has  every  element 
that  makes  it  at- 
tractive to  the 
artistic  mind  ;  and 
nothing  seems  more  ;-\ 
natural  than  that  a  -J| 
boy  or  girl  whose  M 
childhood  is  spent  Wk 
on  its  magic  al  "m 
shores  should  be 
inspired  with  poetic  ! 
fervor,  and  become 
a  poet  or  a  painter. 

It  was  under  such 
genial  influences 
that  Sandford  R. 
Gifford  spent  his 
boyhood.  He  was 
born  i  n  Saratoga 
county,  N.  Y.  •  but  went  very  early  to  live  at  Hud- 
son, which  is  one  of  the  delightful  towns  that  fringe 
the  shores  of  the  river.  Opposite  are  the  won- 
derfully beautiful   ranges   of   the  Catskill  Mount- 


5  fiA-fr^-O 


ains,  pencilled  with  bold  yet  graceful  outline  against 
the  sunset  sky,  crowned  by  the  evening  star  and 
the  crescent  moon,  and  sweeping  up  from  the  glassy 
river  with  majestic 
slopes,  clad  in 
green,  and  studded 
with  quiet  farms. 

It  was  among 
these  mountains 
that  Washington 
Irving  laid  the 
scene  of  his  weird 
story  of  Rip  Van 
Winkle ;  and  there 
Thomas  Cole,  one 
of  the  greatest  of 
American  painters, 
lived,  and  caught 
the  inspiration  for 
some  of  his  most 
effective  works. 

It  is  at  Hudson 
that  F.  E.  Church 
lives,  who  is  one  of 
our  leading  land- 
scape painters ;  and 
Arthur  and  Ernest 
Parton,  two  well- 
known  artists  in 
the  same  line  of 
art,  are  natives  of 
Hudson.  Thus,  it 
almost  seems  as  if 
this  little  town  has 
feeling:  and  an  aid  to 


been  truly  a  source  of 
American  landscape  art. 

Young  Gifford's  father  was  the  proprietor  of  some 
iron  works,  and  the  youth  was  not,  therefore,  in  such 


OUR  AMERICAN  ARTISTS. 


humble  and  needy  circumstances  as  often  fall  to  the 
lot  of  the  artist  in  early  life.  When  he  became  old 
enough  to  enter  college  he  was  sent  to  Brown  Uni- 
versity, where  he  remained  until  the  close  of  his 
sophomore  year.  His  father  then  asked  him  what 
profession  he  intended  to  follow.  This  was  a  ques- 
tion that  had  not  occurred  to  him  before.  When  he 
deliberated  upon  it,  he  began  by  thinking  first  of 
what  occupations  he  did  not  wish  to  take  up,  and 
was  surprised  to  find  there  was  nothing  that  was 
attractive  to  him  except  being  a  painter. 

Having  come  to  the  conclusion  that  there  was 
only  one  pursuit  that  he  cared  to  undertake,  young 
Gifford  made  it  known  to  his  father,  who  showed 
him  the  difficulties  he  would  have  to  encounter  in 
the  pursuit  of  success  in  art.  But  when  he  found 
his  son  resolute  in  his  purpose,  Mr.  Gifford  wisely 
yielded  to  his  wish,  and  also  aided  him  in  a  kind  and 
judicious  manner. 

Leaving  college  and  going  to  New  York,  Sandford 
Gifford  cast  about  him  to  see  how  he  could  obtain  the 
art  instruction  he  needed  and  desired.  He  applied, 
first,  at  the  studio  of  a  well-known  portrait-painter, 
whose  manner  was  so  distant  that  he  called  next  at 
the  rooms  of  another  artist,  who  said  : 

"  I  would  gladly  give  you  all  the  instruction  in  my 
power,  but  you  need  first  to  become  master  of  draw- 
ing and  perspective  ;  and  there  is  no  man  in  the  city 
more  capable  of  teaching  you  those  branches  than 
Mr.  John  Smith." 

So  to  Mr.  Smith,  who  was  the  son  of  a  noted  steel 
engraver,  the  young  art  aspirant  now  betook  himself, 
and  found,  at  last,  exactly  the  instruction  he  sought. 

This  is  the  only  regular  art  education  that  Mr. 
Gifford  has  had.  He  early  visited  the  studios  of 
Europe,  it  is  true,  and  carefully  looked  at  the  meth- 
ods of  the  foreign  masters ;  but  he  followed  none, 
conscious  that,  after  one  has  learned  certain  princi- 
ples and  a  technical  knowledge  of  colors  and  draw- 
ing, he  should  then  study  nature  with  great  love  and 
fidelity,  and  try  to  represent  it  in  his  own  way. 

For  an  artist  like  Mr.  Gifford,  who  has  sufficient 
ability,  this  is  the  best  path  to  follow  in  art.  Of 
course,  an  artist  who  keeps  his  eyes  about  him  will 
often  gather  useful  hints,  or  correct  mistakes  in  his 
style,  by  observing  reflectively  other  art  styles  as  he 
goes  through  life,  without  necessarily  borrowing  either 
ideas  or  methods. 


In  1850  Mr.  Gifford  was  made  an  Associate  of  the 
National  Academy  of  Design,  and  in  1854  a  full 
Academician.  In  the  year  1868  he  took  a  delightful 
trip  to  Egypt,  Constantinople  and  Athens,  all  of 
which  offered  attractions  of  the  highest  sort  to  one 
of  his  rich  fancy  and  exquisite  feeling  for  light  and 
color.  Some  of  his  most  superb  effects  of  sunset 
were  inspired  by  the  splendor  of  the  oriental  skies  ; 
and  few  artists  have  entered  more  into  the  spirit  of 
the  dreamy  and  gorgeous  East,  with  its  waving 
palms  and  gilded  domes  and  minarets  soaring  over 
gray,  crumbling,  battlemented  walls,  overarched  by 
cloudless  skies.  The  solemn  majesty  of  the  ruined 
temples  of  Egypt,  the  grandest  antiquities  in  the 
world,  brooding  by  the  tawny  waters  of  the  Nile, 
made  a  lasting  impression  on  the  imagination  of  this 
great  artist. 

During  the  war  of  the  Rebellion,  Mr.  Gifford,  who 
was  a  member  of  the  famous  Seventh  Regiment  of 
New  York,  was  twice  called  to  do  duty  for  his  coun- 
try, and  several  of  his  works  were  suggested  by  the 
scenes  of  camp  life.  One  of  them  represents  a  bas- 
tion and  a  tall  sentinel  standing  by  a  cannon,  against 
the  glow  of  a  ruddy  sunset.  It  is  a  portrait  of  the 
artist  himself.  Another  interesting  picture  repre- 
sents a  bivouac  at  morning  among  the  hills  of  Mary- 
land. 

Some  years  later,  Mr.  Gifford  took  a  tour  over  the 
plains  of  the  great  West  and  the  stupendous  ranges 
of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  whose  bare,  brilliantly- 
tinted  precipices,  and  cathedral-like  pinnacles  of 
basalt  gave  him  subjects  that  he  has  treated  with 
much  poetic  feeling. 

Among  other  art  tours  this  artist  has  also  visited 
the  lakes  of  the  Northwest,  and  once  had  a  very  nar- 
row escape  on  Lake  Michigan.  He  was  with  a  party 
that  were  coasting  along  its  rugged  shores  in  a  small 
half-decked  sloop.  At  night  they  used  to  put  in  to 
some  cove  and  make  a  lee  until  daybreak.  But  the 
craft  was  old  and  proved  leaky,  and  they  were  caught 
out  in  this  crazy  boat  in  a  gale  of  wind.  The  sea 
ran  high  ;  and  what  with  the  water  coming  over,  and 
that  which  came  through  the  yawning  seams,  they 
saw  little  hope  of  living  out  the  storm.  But,  late  in 
the  afternoon,  they  came  in  sight  of  a  narrow  inlet, 
and  made  for  it  as  their  last  chance  ;  although  they 
would  have  to  meet  a  high  cross  sea  in  bringing  the 
head  of  the  sloop  to  the  land,  and  thus  run  a  great 


OUR  AMERICAN  ARTISTS. 


risk  of  being  swamped.  To  add  to  their  danger,  the 
man  at  the  helm  managed  it  clumsily  just  at  the  crit- 
ical moment.  The  boat  shipped  an  enormous  wave 
and  all  but  went  over.  The  next  instant  they  shot 
through  the  rollers  and  slid  into  the  calm  water  of  a 
sheltered  cove,  and,  drenched  and  exhausted,  were 
glad  enough  to  find  themselves  in  a  safe  place. 

There  is  no  contrast  more  remarkable  than  to 
glide  into  a  peaceful  haven  directly  after  battling 
with  a  storm  on  the  water.  Many  a  time,  in  my  sea 
life,  have  I  experienced  the  wonderful  relief  and  the 
restful  repose  that  comes  over  one,  as  he  passes,  sud- 
denly, from  the  severe  labor  and  anxiety  of  fighting 
with  the  fury  of  the  gale  into  safety  and  calm.  The 
supper  the  travellers  enjoyed  that  night  in  the  shel- 
tered nook  amid  the  rocks  of  Lake  Michigan,  must 
have  been,  indeed,  one  of  unusual  delight,  and  well- 
seasoned  with  Spartan  sauce. 

As  an  artist,  Mr.  Gifford  may  be  classed  with  the 
best  landscape  painters  of  America.    Our  art  has 


MR.   S.  R.   GIFFORD'S  STUDIO. 


produced  its  most  successful  efforts  in  landscape  and 
marine.  We  have  had  several  excellent  portrait  and 
figure  painters,  and  the  number  of  such  is  increasing. 
But,  up  to  within  a  few  years,  the  distinctive  feature 
of  American  art  has  been  landscape  painting. 

The  grandeur  and  variety  of  our  scenery,  the  noble 


mountains  clothed  with  verdure,  the  lovely  forest- 
skirted  streams,  the  broad  meadow  lands  and  sub- 
lime solitude  of  endless  woods,  have  inspired  our 
poets  and  artists  ;  while  the  events  of  our  history 
have  been  generally  so  recent  as  to  appeal,  as  yet, 
only  feebly  to  the  fancy.  Thus  we  see  that,  among 
our  poets,  Bryant  and  Longfellow,  Whittier  and 
Street,  and  others  who  have  achieved  fame,  have 
clone  much,  if  not  all,  of  their  best  work  in  describ- 
ing the  scenery  of  their  native  land  ;  and,  by  far, 
the  largest  number  of  our  most  noted  artists  are  land- 
scape painters. 

Our  school  of  landscape  art  was  founded  by  such 
men  as  Thomas  Cole  and  Asher  B.  Durand.  They 
have  been  succeeded  by  a  number  of  artists  who  have 
often  shown  much  ability  and  originality,  and  have 
worked  in  a  style  that  has  been  full  of  poetic  feeling 
and  quite  distinctively  American. 

Of  these  artists,  Bierstadt  and  Hill  and  Thomas 
Moran  have  given  their  attention  to  the  representa- 
tion of  the  vast  canons  and  sublime  mountain  peaks 
of  .California,  Oregon  and  Colorado.  Some  of  these 
works  have  been  very  striking  for  their  art  qualities  ; 
while  they  have  all  been  valuable  in  giving  the 
world  an  idea  of  the  magnificent  scenery  of  America 
of  which  we  were  entirely  ignorant  until,  with  great 
enterprise  and  perseverance,  these  artists  went  out 
there  and  explored  the  abode  of  the  grizzly  bear,  the 
grim  monarch  of  the  West,  and  wrested  from  his 
jealous  guard  the  secrets  of  the  Rocky  Mountains. 

Thomas  Hill's  painting  of  the  Yosemite  Valley 
and  Moran's  painting  of  the  Canon  of  the  Colorado 
River,  which  is  now  in  the  Capitol  at  Washington, 
are  among  the  most  remarkable  landscapes  yet  sug- 
gested by  our  Western  scenery. 

Some  of  our  artists,  like  Church  and  Mignot,  have 
been  to  South  America,  and  won  fame  by  their  mag- 
nificent paintings  of  the  wild  and  gorgeous  land- 
scape of  that,  as  yet,  little  known  continent.  Others, 
again,  like  the  Harts,  McEntee,  Inness,  Whittredge, 
Cropsey,  Hubbard,  Gerry,  Robbins,  Bristol,  Bricher 
and  Bellows,  have  been  contented  to  paint  the  more 
quiet  and  familiar  but  none  the  less  beautiful  scenes 
about  home,  often  with  fascinating  success. 

The  late  John  F.  Kensett  was  one  who  belonged 
to  this  class.  He  was  an  artist  who  has  been 
equalled  by  very  few  of  our  landscape  painters.  He 
excelled  in  the  refined  beauty  of  his  pictures.  Quiet 


OUR  AMERICAN  ARTISTS. 


and  subdued  in  tone,  they  were  always  harmonious 
and  full  of  suggestion,  showing  that  he  worked  from 
a  full  mind,  and  was  thus  able  to  select  and  give  us 
the  best.  Many  of  his  scenes  were  studies  of  coast 
effects.  Others  represented  a  placid  lake,  with  a 
cool  gray  sky,  a  woodland  waterfall,  or  a  quiet  moon- 
light. The  masterly  way  in  which  Kensett  employed 
colors  was  also  shown  in  his  autumn  scenes ;  in 
which  the  gorgeousness  of  our  autumnal  foliage  is  so 
exquisitely  rendered  as  not  to  seem  gaudy  and 
unnatural,  which  is  too  often  the  case. 

If  there  has  been  a  fault  in  this  school  of  Amer- 


ican landscape  art,  it  has  been,  perhaps,  in  endeavor- 
ing to  get  too  much  in  a  picture,  in  trying  to  be  too 
literal  ;  so  that  the  great  attention  given  to  the 
details  has  excited  wonder  rather  than  stimulated 
the  imagination,  and  has  marred  the  impression  of 
general  effect  which  should  be  the  chief  idea  in  a 
work  of  art.  For  the  materials  an  artist  has  at  his 
command  are,  at  best,  so  weak  compared  with  nature, 
which  is  ever  toned  and  harmonized  by  the  atmos- 
phere, that  it  is  very  easy  to  lose  sight  of  the  lead- 
ing idea  of  the  painting. 

Our  later  artists,  as  I  have  explained  in  previous 


PAIXANZA  —  LAGO  MAGGIOR 


papers,  are  painting  in  a  broader  style.  Mr.  Ken- 
sett,  although  in  most  respects  belonging  to  the  old 
school  of  American  landscape  art,  treated  his  sub- 
jects more  broadly  than  many,  and  the  same  may  be 
said  of  Mr.  Sandford  R.  Gifford.  The  main  effect  in 
his  works  is  atmospheric.  None  have  surpassed  him 
in  rendering  the  splendor  of  sunset  skies,  and  the 
tender  sheen  of  light  reflected  on  still  water. 

But  Mr.  Gifford  has  not  only  been  successful  in 
giving  us  the  glowing,  golden  haze  of  a  calm  sunset. 
He  has  also  painted,  as  well,  the  gray  of  the  storm- 
cloud  brooding  over  a  lake  or  shrouding  the  mount- 


ain top,  or  the  lazy  mist  veiling  the  trees  of  the 
woodland.  His  painting  of  Echo  Lake  is  a  very 
successful  attempt  to  combine  cloud,  water,  forest 
and  mountain  scenery  in  a  harmonious  whole. 

In  the  art  of  Mr.  Gifford  there  is  the  highest  kind 
of  art — that  which  indicates  sound  knowledge  of 
art  principles,  entire  absence  of  slovenly,  unfinished 
work,  and,  at  the  same  time,  such  mastery  of  what 
he  has  to  paint,  that  the  art  is  concealed  which  pro- 
duces such  charming  results. 

Mr.  Gifford's  studio  is  in  the  Tenth  Street  Studio 
Building,  described  in  the  article  about  Mr.  Beard. 


WALTER  SHIRLAW. 


WALTER  SHIRLAW  was  born  at  Paisley,  in 
Scotland  ;  but  he  came  with  his  parents  to 
America  when  he  was  three  years  old.  As  most  of 
his  life  has  been  spent  in  this  country,  he  can,  there- 
fore, be  considered  an  American  artist. 

The  boyhood  of  young  Walter  was  passed  in  New 
York  City,  without  being  varied  by  any  eventful  inci- 
dents. After  the  usual  amount  of  schooling,  with 
more  or  less  snow-balling,  coasting,  and  other  sports 
added  to  make  up  the  round  of  a  boy's  life  who  has 
plenty  of  health  to  spare,  Walter  was  placed  with  the 
American  Bank  Note  Company,  which  engraves  the 
steel  plates  for  the  United  States'  currency,  and  also 
for  the  banks  of  Canada  and  some  of  the  States  of 
South  America. 

The  green  color  of  these  notes  was  invented  by 
an  Armenian,  who  was  sent  to  this  country  from 
Turkey  by  the  missionaries,  and  studied  at  Yale  col- 
lege. The  chemical  ingredients  of  this  green  are  a 
great  secret ;  because  it  is  excessively  difficult  to  pho- 
tograph a  note  printed  on  paper  tinted  with  this  prep- 
aration of  green. 

The  notes  of  the  Bank  Note  Company  have  always 
been  celebrated  for  the  excellent  quality  of  the 
engraving,  but  the  names  of  the  engravers  are  never 
cut  on  the  plate.  Mr.  Shirlaw  may  be  credited,  how- 
ever, with  engraving,  among  other  pictures  on  these 
notes,  the  one  representing  Columbus  discovering 
America,  which  is  on  the  upper  left  hand  corner  of 
the  face  of  the  five  dollar  United  States'  note. 

After  remaining  nearly  ten  years  with  this  com- 
pany, Mr.  Shirlaw  was  invited  to  join  a  new  associa- 
tion situated  in  Chicago,  and  called  the  Western 
Note  Engraving  Company.  He  remained  in  this 
position  for  six  years,  when  his  desire  to  become  a 
painter  grew  so  strong  that  he  no  longer  resisted  it, 
but  returned  to  New  York  and  began  the  life  of  a 
professional  artist. 

The  following  year  he  took  a  trip  to  the  Rocky 


Mountains.  It  was  attended  with  many  interesting 
incidents  ;  although  nothing  of  a  blood-curdling  char- 
acter occurred,  such  as  travellers  in  those  rugged 
wilds  often  encounter,  to  disturb  the  enjoyment  of 
the  trip. 

In  the  year  1870  Mr.  Shirlaw,  feeling  the  want  of 
art  advantages  such  as  he  could  not  find  here,  sailed 
for  Europe  and  settled  in  Munich,  of  which  city  I 
have  already  spoken  in  the  remarks  about  Mr. 
Chase.  There  he  took  a  studio  in  the  old  monas- 
tery which  has  been  used  for  many  years  as  a  rook- 
ery for  the  artists  of  Munich;  and  he  continued  to 
paint  in  that  building  until  the  last  year  of  his  resi- 
dence there,  when  he  took  a  room  in  a  rambling 
old  house  situated  on  a  rather  dilapidated  but  pict- 
uresque courtyard. 

Mr.  Shirlaw  studied  art  successively  with  four  of 
the  leading  contemporary  artists  of  German)',  Rabb, 
Wagner,  who  painted  the  famous  picture  of  the 
Chariot  Race  in  the  Coliseum,  Ramberg  and  Lin- 
denschmidt.  One  taught  him  form,  another  color, 
another  light  and  shade  or  composition.  During  the 
summers  Mr.  Shirlaw  often  went  into  the  neighboring 
villages  and  took  studies  of  the  rustic  costumes  and 
sun-burned  features  of  the  peasantry. 

The  peasants  of  Bavaria  often  appear  very  inter- 
esting in  a  painting,  with  their  singularly  quaint  and 
richly-colored  garb,  their  rude  thatched  cottages  and 
rough  wagons,  or  carts,  and  still  rougher  cattle  bear- 
ing huge  uncouth  yokes.  It  is  not  unusual  to  see  an 
ox  and  a  horse  yoked  together ;  and,  even  in 
Munich,  it  is  very  common  for  such  a  curious  equi- 
page to  be  seen,  or,  still  more  frequently,  a  wagon 
with  a  tongue  supported  -and  drawn  only  by  one  horse, 
as  if  the  other  horse  had  become  disabled  on  the  road 
and  been  left  behind. 

One  of  the  villages  often  visited  by  Mr.  Shirlaw, 
and  a  great  resort  for  American  art  students  in 
search  of  the  picturesque,  is  Pohling.    There  the 


OUR  AMERICAN  ARTISTS. 


olden  customs  are  still  preserved,  and  the  sheep- 
shearing  and  the  harvest  are  occasions  of  much  mer- 
riment and  festivity. 

The  people  of  Bavaria  have  not  nearly  so  fair  a 
complexion  as  those  of  other  parts  of  Germany. 
They  belong  to  South- 
ern Germany  like  the 
Austrians,  and,  like 
them,  often  have  a 
warm,  rich  brown  skin, 
showing  that  they  are 
descended  from  the 
ancient  Romans,  who, 
in  the  days  of  the 
Caesars,  carried  the 
arms  of  Rome  to  those 
parts  and  planted  col- 
onies there.  This  fact 
is  especially  evident 
among  the  Bavarian 
peasants  ;  and  it  is 
brought  out  with  much 
effect  in  the  finely-col- 
ored representations  of 
German  rustic  life 
which  Mr.  Shirlaw  has 
brought  to  this  coun- 
try. 

Among  his  most  im- 
portant works  is  one 
entitled  "  The  Sheep 
Shearing."  It  is  a 
large  painting,  and  has 
been  exhibited  both  in 
this  country  and  at  the 
last  exposition  at 
Paris,  and  has  atiract- 
e  d  much  favorable 
comment.  It  repre- 
sents the  peasants  col- 
lected to  rob  the  poor 
sheep  of  their  wool. 
On  one  side  of  the  painting  we  see  the  cattle  in  their 
stalls,  and  on  the  other  the  groups  of  young  men  and 
maidens  busily  engaged  in  handling  the  wool,  or 
love-making  with  many  a  quip  and  prank.  Over 
them  arches  the  mouldering,  vaulted  roof  of  the  old 
barn.    The  effect  is  striking  and  original,  and  it  is 


broadly    painted,   and    treated   with   much  vigor. 

Mr.  Shirlaw  belongs  to  the  latest  school  of  modern 
art,  which  handles  a  subject  with  an  eye  to  the  main 
effect,  sacrificing  all  details  which  might  disturb  the 
central   idea   of   the   composition    without  mercy. 

Another  notable  work 
by  this  artist  is  called 
"  Toning  the  Bell."  It 
represents  a  new 
church  bell  just  after  it 
has  been  founded,  and 
while  they  are  putting 
the  quality  of  its  metal 
to  the  test. 

Still  another  inter- 
esting painting  by  Mr. 
Shirlaw,  is  entitled 
"Morning."  The  sun 
has  arisen  and  a  ruddy, 
plump-armed  maiden 
has  just  thrown  open 
the  barn  door  and  is 
scattering  grain  from 
her  apron,  to  a  flock  of 
hurrying  fluttering 
geese,  that  are  hasten- 
ing forth  to  the  bright 
meadow  land.  This  is 
a  very  attractive  and 
original  work,  and  well 
represents  Mr.  Shir- 
law's  pleasant  fancy 
for  painting  geese,  and 
the  skill  he  shows  in 
drawing  fowls  and  ani- 
mals. The  difficulties 
with  which  he  has  had 
to  contend  in  painting 
these  noisy  and  uneasy 
birds,  illustrates  well 
the  earnest  persever- 
ance and  ingenuity 
which  artists  have  to  employ  who  paint  animals  and 
ships  in  motion  ;  for  neither  of  these  will  stand  still 
like  a  human  being,  and  must,  therefore,  be  literally 
seized  on  the  wing. 

Mr.  Shirlaw  sometimes  gets  'some  one  to  startle 
and  chase  a  flock  of  geese  for  him,  and,  as  they  rush 


OUR  AMERICAN  ARTISTS. 


on  pell-mell,  half-flying,  half-running, 
mental  photographs  of  the  action  of  the 
geese  are  impressed  on  his  memory,  and 
are  then  recalled  at  the  beck  of  his  fancy 
when  he  wishes  to  paint.  He  has  also 
sometimes  kept  several  geese  in  his  studio 
a  number  of  clays,  and  watched  their  habits 
when  painting  them.  Often  the  move- 
ments of  animals  and  their  habits  will 
unexpectedly  show  some  trait  that  one 
looks  for  in  vain  when  deliberately  search- 
ing for  it,  while  everyday  familiarity  with 
a  subject  by  one  who  is  keenly  interested 
in  it  may  enable  one  to  interpret  it  on  can- 
vas with  ease  and  truth  to  nature.  All 
the  study  in  the  world  about  ships  will 
not  make  one  a  marine  painter  if  he  does 
not  naturally  love  ships,  and  has  not  been 
often  to  sea  in  them  and  helped  to  sail 
them. 

Rosa  Bonheur,  the  great  animal  painter 
of  France,  engravings  of  whose  "  Horse 
Fair  "  you  may  have  seen,  has  often  kept 
a  sheep  in  her  studio  for  weeks  and  stud- 
ied its  habits,  and  thus  gained  that  knowl- 
edge of  it  which  has  enabled  her  to  paint 
sheep  so  well. 

Mr.  Shirlaw  has  also  been  quite  suc- 
cessful in  the  painting  of  dogs,  for  which 
he  seems  to  have  a  liking  almost  equal  to 
that  for  geese.  But  he  is  even  more  for- 
tunate in  painting  the  human  figure,  to 
which  he  has  given  much  study.  There 
is  a  buoyancy,  a  glow  of  health,  a  rich, 
attractive  beauty,  a  robust  coloring,  and  a 
vigorous  action  in  the  manner  in  which 
he  renders  a  young  peasant  boy  or  girl 
which  shows  that  there  is  nothing  morbid 
in  his  art,  that  he  works  with  a  mind  stored 
with  ideas,  and  that  he  has  carefully  stud- 
ied the  principles  of  art.  In  rendering  the 
delicate  grays  of  the  skin,  also,  this 
painter  often  shows  much  feeling  and  re- 
finement for  the  more  delicate  effects 
of  color. 

After  spending  nearly  eight  years  in 
Munich,  and  taking  a  trip  to  Venice, 
where  he  collected  some  curious  old  cabi- 


A    CORNER  OF 
SHIRLAW'S  STUOl 


ING,    WASHINGTON  SQUA 


OUR  AMERICAN  ARTISTS. 


inets  and  other  quaint  relics  of  the  past  for  his  studio 
work,  Mr.  Shirlaw  returned  to  the  United  States  and 
once  more  settled  in  New  York. 

He  soon  received  the  appointment  of  professor 
at  the  Art  Stu- 
dents' League. 
This  is  an  art 
a  s  s  o  c  i  a  tion 
formed  in  1877 
by  a  number  of 
en  t  h  u  siastic 
young  artists 
who  had  stud- 
ied abroad  and 
who,  on  re- 
turning to  this 
country,  con- 
cluded that 
they  could  not 
receive  justice 
i  n  exhibiting 
their  works  at 
the  National 
Academy, 
while  at  the 
same  time 
their  theories 
and  methods 
in  art  were  dif- 
fer e  n  t  from 
those  of  many 
members  of 
the  Academy. 

The  Nation- 
al Academy  of 
Design  was 
founded  early 
in  the  century, 
and  has  been 
a  very  useful 
institution. 
Most  of  our 
noted  artists 
have  been  members  of  it,  or  associates,  for  there  are 
two  degrees  of  membership.  One  is  first  elected  an 
associate  and  adds  A.  N.  A.  to  his  name.  As  he  in- 
creases in  age  and  reputation  he  may  be  elected  after  a 
while  to  full  membership,  and  then  becomes  an  N.  A., 


or  National  Academician.  There  are  several  art  asso- 
ciations in  the  country,  but  the  Academy  of  New  York 
has  up  to  this  time  been  the  most  important.  Its  head- 
quarters are  in  a  handsome  building  on  the  corner  of 

Twenty- 1  h  i  rd 


later  methods  of  art  to  gain  either  membership 
or  admission  for  their  paintings  at  the  exhibitions. 
This  has  caused  some  ill-feeling,  and  some  of  those 
who  had  studied  in  Paris  and  Munich,  and  formed 
their  styles  on  those  of  foreign  artists  finally  decided 


OUR  AMER 


1CAN  ARTISTS. 


they  would  establish  an  art  association  of  their  own. 

The  Art  Students'  League  was  the  result  of  this 
movement.  It  has  already  become  very  flourishing, 
and  has  held  important  exhibitions  at  the  Kurz 
Gallery,  in  New  York.  The  rooms  of  the  Association 
are  on  Fifth  Avenue.  A  corps  of  professors  give 
instruction  there  in  drawing,  painting  and  modelling, 
and  already  a  respectable  number  of  students  of  both 
sexes  have  enrolled  themselves  there  for  instruction. 

The  studio  which  is  now  occupied  by  Mr.  Shirlaw 
is  in  the  University  Building  on  Washington  Square. 
It  is  a  grand  old  structure,  solidly  built  of  granite  in 
Gothic  style  with  towers  at  each  corner  and  battlements 
and  lancet-shaped  windows.  It  has  a  labyrinth  of 
winding  corridors  and  halls,  and  is  altogether  quite 
like  some  rambling  historic  building  in  the  old 
world.  As  its  name  denotes,  it  is  used  as  a  college 
for  instruction  in  law  and  science.  But  of  late  years 
the  lodging-rooms  have  not  been  occupied  by  the 
students,  and  they  have  therefore  been  rented  to 
single  gentlemen  for  lodgings,  or  turned  into  studios. 

In  the  centre  of  the  building,  and  rising  above  the 


main  roof,  was  the  chapel,  which  was  one  of  the 
handsomest  halls  in  New  York  ;  it  was  arched  after 
the  style  of  what  is  called  the  Flamboyant  Gothic, 
with  painted,  heavily-mullioned  windows,  whose 
mouldings  were  supported  by  angels,  and  from  the 
ceiling,  frescoed  with  blue  and  gold,  hung  massive 
pendants,  ornamented  with  grotesque  lion  faces. 

This  chapel  has  at  last  given  way  to  the  de- 
mands of  a  corporation  that  needed  money,  and 
has  been  cut  up  into  rooms.  But  the  ceiling  and 
windows  have  been  left  untouched,  and  thus  the 
upper  tier  of  rooms  is  roofed  by  a  massive  and  highly 
picturesque  ceiling  that  carries  the  imagination  back 
to  mediaeval  times.  These  apartments  have  been 
recently  finished,  and  form  three  attractive  studios,  ad- 
mirably adapted  for  drapery,  and  rich  in  Rembrant- 
like  effects  of  light  and  shade  which  are  dear  to  the 
artist.  It  is  in  one  of  these  studios  that  Mr.  Shirlaw 
is  now  engaged  in  painting  compositions  which  shall 
give  pleasure  in  years  to  come  to  those  who  are  still 
boys  and  girls,  just  beginning  to  take  an  interest  in 
the  art  of  their  native  land. 


mr.  enneking's  studio,  hyde  park,  mass.    (Drawn  by  himself '.) 


JOHN    J.  ENNEKING. 


THIS  artist  was  born  in  Minster,  Ohio,  in  1841, 
and  was  the  son  of  a  farmer  of  German 
descent,  w"hose  tastes  were  naturally  opposed  to  the 
early  inclination  shown  by  his  boy  for  drawing. 

One  day  John  sketched  an  ambitious  outline  with 
a  bit  of  charcoal  on  his  father's  newly  painted  barn, 
and  was  soundly  thrashed  by  his  indignant  father, 
who,  it  must  be  confessed,  had  some  reason  for  his 
wrath  in  this  case.    The  village  school-master  also 


failed  to  take  a  proper  interest  in  the  rude  but  vigor- 
ous scrawls  with  which  the  lad  covered  his  slate  and 
school-books  ;  and,  instead  of  seeing  in  them  the 
promise  of  artistic  beauty,  often  kept  John  in  after 
school  hours  as  a  penalty  for  drawing  them. 

But  John's  mother  rather  encouraged  his  early 
efforts,  discerning  a  talent  which  others  failed  to 
appreciate,  and  might  have  been  of  great  assistance 
to  him  by  her  advice,  if  she  had  not  died  while  he 


OUR  AMERICAN  ARTISTS. 


was  still  a  boy,  and  his  father  did  not  long  survive 
her.  Mrs.  Enneking  seems  to  have  been  naturally  a 
woman  of  artistic  taste,  and  was  highly  respected  in 
the  neighborhood  in  which  she  lived. 

Left  thus  early  an  orphan,  and  also  bereft  of  broth- 
ers and  sisters,  John  was  brought  up  by  his  relations. 
In  his  sixteenth  year  he  first  saw  an  oil  painting  of 
good  quality.  He  was  visiting  a  friend  in  Cincin- 
nati, and  by  accident  stumbled  into  an  art  exhibition. 
The  impression  made  upon  him  was  immediate  and 
lasting.  Such  was  the  reverence  for  art  which  it 
aroused  in  his  mind  that  he  hardly  dared  to  enter  an 
artist's  studio,  although  he  resolved  that  at  some 
time  he  himself  would  become  a  painter.  Soon  after 
he  was  sent  to  Mt.  St.  Mary's  College,  where  he  was 
taught  the  rudiments  of  drawing. 

On  the  breaking  out  of  the  civil  war  John  enlisted 
in  a  Western  regiment,  and  served  for  a  little  over  a 
year.  He  was  in  the  thickest  of  the  fight  and  had 
many  a  hair-breadth  escape.  But  he  did  not  always 
get  off  so  easily ;  for  he  was  several  times  wounded, 
and  carries  with  him  to  this  day  the  scars  won  in 
that  most  interesting  period  of  his  checkered  life. 

In  the  year  1864  Mr.  Enneking,  having  done  his 
share  in  preserving  the  nation,  went  to  New  York  to 
take  art  lessons,  and  drifted  thence  to  Boston  where 
he  sought  instruction  from  Professor  Richardson.  By 
his  advice  he  now  learned  to  draw  on  stone,  and  fol- 
lowed lithography  until  he  found  it  weakened  his 
eyes.  Supposing  that  the  same  result  would  also  be 
caused  by  painting,  and  now  quite  discouraged  in  the 
prospect  of  making  art  a  life  profession,  Mr.  Ennek- 
ing returned  to  the  business  he  had  learned  before 
the  breaking  out  of  the  war  —  the  manufacture  of  tin- 
ware. 

He  did  so  well  in  this  pursuit  that  he  was  soon 
able  to  become  a  partner  in  a  wholesale  establishment. 
But  reverses  followed,  and  he  not  only  lost  every  cent 
but  was  also  plunged  deep  in  debt.  No  circumstances 
could  seem  more  adverse  to  success  in  art.  But  now 
it  was  that,  by  the  advice  of  his  wife,  who  seemed  to 
understand  what  was  really  his  vocation,  Mr.  Ennek- 
ing returned  to  the  pursuit  of  art  as  a  life  profession  ; 
although  it  was  only  after  many  struggles  that  he  at 
last  began  to  see  success  looming  ahead. 

For  several  years  he  worked  in  pastel  or  colored 
crayons  ;  but,  finally,  betook  himself  to  oil  painting. 
His  business  experience  now  stood  him  in  good 


stead  and  enabled  him  to  find  a  good  sale  for  his 
work,  and  he  settled  in  Hyde  Park  near  Boston,  and 
built  himself  a  house  there. 

Soon  after,  taking  his  wife  and  two  children  with 
him,  Mr.  Enneking  went  to  Europe,  travelling 
through  France,  Switzerland,  Italy  and  Germany, 
and  studying  the  art  of  those  countries.  In  Munich 
he  spent  seven  months  in  the  studios  of  two  of  the 
leading  landscape  painters  there,  Schleich  and  Lier  ; 
while  in  Paris  he  not  only  studied  landscape  with  the 
great  painter  Daubigny,  but  also  became  a  pupil  of 
the  celebrated  figure  painter,  Bonnat,  under  whose 
instruction  Mr.  Enneking  gained  much  vigor  and 
freshness  in  his  art,  and  learned  to  aid  his  landscapes 
by  the  addition  of  genre  and  cattle. 

In  1878  Mr.  Enneking  again  went  abroad,  spend- 
ing six  months  sketching  in  Holland  and  renewing 
his  impressions  of  foreign  art.  Considering  the  time 
he  has  spent  in  painting,  he  has  been  one  of  our  most 
successful  painters,  both  in  the  quality  of  his  works 
and  the  favor  they  have  received.  His  style  is  fresh 
and  vigorous,  and  he  excels  in  producing  effects  of 
light.  Some  of  the  scenes  suggested  by  his  life  in 
Paris  are  very  luminous  and  true  in  color. 

Mr.  Enneking  is  also  successful  in  drawing  and 
painting  the  figure  from  living  models,  a  method  of 
which  I  will  tell  you  more  in  another  paper;  while 
the  cattle  he  introduces  into  some  of  his  pictures  add 
much  to  their  interest. 

It  would  be  very  natural  if  such  a  varied  career  as 
that  of  Mr.  Enneking's  were  attended  with  incident 
and  adventure  ;  and  such  has  been  the  case,  not  only 
in  the  war  but  also  in  his  art  experience.  Among 
other  stories  we  might  relate  what  happened  to  him 
one  day  when  he  was  sketching  in  Switzerland.  Per- 
haps it  is  better  to  let  him  tell  it  in  his  own  words. 

"  One  fine  morning  I  took  my  traps  and  ascended 
a  steep  mountain  path,  and  followed  it  for  some  three 
miles,  when  I  came  to  a  level  clearing  which  afforded 
me  a  splendid  view  of  the  surrounding  snow-capped 
mountain  peaks.  After  enjoying  the  glorious  scene 
for  a  short  time  I  chose  my  subject,  and  then  set  to 
work  with  a  will  to  transfer  it  to  canvas.  In  a  few 
hours,  when  the  sketch  was  about  finished,  the  effect 
changed,  clouds  covering  the  mountains.  In  the 
hope  that  the  clouds  would  soon  lift  again,  I  took  my 
sketch  book  and  went  up  a  little  way  on  a  hillside,  in 
order  to  take  a  hasty  outline  of  another  view. 


OUR  AMERICAN  ARTISTS. 


"  I  was  scarcely  twenty  minutes  about  it,  and  then 
returned  to  my  easel  and  oil  sketch  which  I  had  left 
standing  below. 

"  But  you  can  imagine  my  surprise  and  con- 
sternation to  find  my  sketch  completely  rubbed  out 
and,  on  examining  it,  it  seemed  as  though  a  large 
brush  had  been  used  to  accomplish  the  ruin.  My 
brushes  were  strewn 
in  all  directions,  and 
my  palette  was  almost 
all  cleaned  of  paint. 

"  I  looked  in  all  di- 
ections  but  could  not 
discover  any  living 
thing.  I  was  com- 
pletely dumbfounded. 
It  could  not  have 
been  a  wild  animal, 
for  I  was  in  full  sight 
of  the  place  the  whole 
time.  What  could  it 
have  been  ?  Who 
could  it  have  been  ? 
I  puzzled  my  brain 
over  the  mystery  for 
some  time  and  was  at 
last  ready  to  believe 
there  might  be  some- 
thing in  spiritualism. 

"The  loss  of  that 
sketch  provoked  me 
in  spite  of  the  mys- 
tery ;  for  I  had  suc- 
ceeded in  securing 
such  cloud  effect  as 
it  had  seldom  been 
my  luck  to  witness. 
I  repaired  the  mis- 
chief as  well  as  I 
could ;  but  for  the 
first  time  since  my 
boyhood  felt  uneasy,  as  though  there  were  unseen 
dangers  surrounding  me.  I  did  not  make  a  whole 
day  of  it,  but  by  the  middle  of  the  afternoon  was 
on  my  way  down  the  valley  again. 

"  Judge  of  my  surprise,  when,  after  I  had  descended 
about  half  a  mile,  I  came  across  a  flock  of  goats  with 
the  most  brilliant  whiskers,  and  faces  well  tattoed 


with  all  the  colors  of  the  rainbow.  They  eyed  me  as 
innocently  as  though  they  were  my  best  friends,  and 
had  not  been  up  in  the  clearing  raising  Ned.  I  had 
seen  them  near  the  place  when  I  ascended  in  the 
morning,  but  never  suspected  them,  and  can  hardly 
see  now  how  they  could  do  so  much  mischief  so 
quickly  and  in  such  a  quiet  way. 

"  The  ludicrous 
sight  they  presented 
put  me  in  such  good 
spirits  that,  half-way 
down  the  mountain, 
I  halted  and  made 
one  of  the  best 
sketches  of  the  sea- 
son." 

Mr.  Enneking  met 
with  another  amusing 
adventure  when  he 
was  at  Venice, 
where  he  has  taken 
the  studies  for  some 
of  his  most  effective 
paintings.  There  is 
something  about  the 
dreamy  atmosphere, 
the  picturesquely  dec- 
orated sails  of  the 
fishing  craft  lazily 
floating  on  the  blue 
waters  of  the  lagoons, 
and  the  superb  out- 
lines of  the  crumb- 
ling palaces  and 
domes  and  towers  of 
the  queen  city  of 
the  Adriatic,  haunted 
with  the  romantic 
stories  and  the  mem- 
ory of  the  pageants  of 
other  days,  which 
seems  to  have  had  a  congenial  influence  over  the  fancy 
of  this  Western  artist,  who  had  wandered  hither  from 
the  newly-settled  andunhistoric  prairies  of  Ohio.  The 
poetic  elements  of  his  nature  have  never  found  a  more 
congenial  theme  than  Venice,  which  has  inspired  the 
pen  and  the  brush  of  many  another  poet  and 
painter. 


OUR  AMERICAN  ARTISTS. 


After  sketching  several  months  in  the  City  of  the 
Doges,  Mr.  Enneking  took  a  trip  clown  the  Adriatic 
coast  as  far  as  Chiogga,  forty  miles  south  of  Venice, 
now  a  fishing  port,  but  celebrated  in  olden  time  for  a 
famous  strife  called  the  War  of  Chiogga.  There  he 
took  a  fishing  boat  and  sailed  towards  Aquiloja, 
along  a  bold  and  rugged  shore.  At  last  he  came  to 
a  headland  which  seemed  to  offer  a  a  good  prospect, 
and  so,  leaving  the  boat  with   the  fishermen,  he 


sprung  on  land  and  started  up  a  winding  ravine  that 
led  him  among  some  exceedingly  barren  and  deso- 
late but  picturesque  rocks  which  overhung  the  sea. 

After  climbing  briskly  some  distance,  he  was  sud- 
denly surprised  by  a  brace  of  rough-looking  men 
who  sprung  upon  him  from  behind  a  sharp  ledge, 
rushing  rapidly  towards  him,  violently  gesticulating 
and  yelling  together  in  a  rough  jargon  he  could  not 
understand. 


When  he  discovered  a  third  man  springing  after 
them,  fiercely  brandishing  a  club,  Mr.  Enneking  nat- 
urally supposed,  as  a  matter  of  course,  that  these 
men  were  ruffians,  perhaps  brigands,  such  as  abound 
in  some  parts  of  Italy,  and  that  they  intended  to  rob 
or  perhaps  murder  him.  Impressed  by  this  idea  he 
hurled  his  sketching  stool  at  one  of  them,  who 
dodged  it  and  tumbled  head  foremost  into  a  bramble 
bush.    The  bewildered  artist  then  dealt  the  other 


man  a  terrible  blow  with  his  umbrella.  Instead  of 
resisting  him  the  two  men  fled  down  the  hill  ;  but  he 
now  had  the  third  one  to  deal  with,  for  he  attacked 
Mr.  Enneking  in  a  manner  that  soon  brought  them 
to  close  quarters.  Clenching  each  other  by  the 
throat,  the  two  men  were  in  a  minute  struggling  for 
life  and  death  on  the  ground. 

It  was  a  very  serious  and  critical  moment.  But,  at 
that  instant,  the  mystery  was  solved  and  the  fight 


OUR  AMERICAN  ARTISTS. 


checked  by  a  fearful  explosion  that  shook  the  earth, 
while  a  shower  of  stones  fell  around  them.  It  was  a 
blast  going  off  close  at  hand,  and  these  seeming 
robbers  were  simply  honest  laborers,  who  had  been 
trying  to  keep  him  from  rushing  into  a  peril  that 
might  have  cost  him  his  life.  Before  leaving  lie  gave 
the  men  a  few  pence  each,  to  indemnify  them  for  his 


rather  rough  resistance  to  their  well  meant  violence. 

Mr.  Enneking  is  now  settled  in  the  village  of 
Hyde  Park  near  Boston,  where  he  has  both  his  dwell- 
ing-house and  his  studio.  Reaping  the  benefits  of  care- 
ful observation,  both  in  the  studio  and  the  open  air, 
his  works  show  a  loving  and  reverent  appreciation  of 
the  beautiful  world  in  which  we  live. 


THOMAS   W.  WOOD. 


ONE  realizes  the  size  of  the  United  States  and 
the  various  character  of  each  state,  as  he  con- 
siders from  what  widely  separated  regions  our  artists 
have  come  ;  now,  from  the  sunny  South,  then,  from 
the  bleak  shores  of  New  England,  or  the  vast,  ocean- 


like prairies  of  the  great  West.  Some  have  been 
cradled  by  the  roar  of  the  turbulent  Atlantic,  others 
where  limitless  billows  of  waving  grain  carry  the  eye 
away  to  the  setting  sun  ;  and  yet  all,  wherever  born 
and  under  whatever  influences  educated,  acknowl- 


OUR  AMERICAN  ARTISTS. 


edge  the  great  bond  of  a  common  love  for  the  beau- 
tiful, and  a  yearning  to  express  their  thoughts  in  the 
universal  language  of  art. 

Yes,  this  is  the  one  language  that  all  can  under- 
stand, however  different  their  mother  tongues,  and 
however  sundered  by  age  and  clime.  The  Greek, 
Latin,  Japanese,  Saxon,  or  East  Indian  may  have 
each  a  different  tongue,  but  they  all  understand 
the  poetry  of  color.  They  are  all  alike  moved  by  the 
subtle  harmony  of  lines,  and  each  can  take  pleasure 
in  each  other's  methods  of  art  expression. 

In  the  case  of  the  artist  who  heads  this  paper,  we 
find  ourselves  taken  to  the  Green  Mountains  of  Ver- 
mont. He  was  born  at  Montpelier,  the  state  capital, 
about  fifty  years  ago.  It  is  evident  that  some 
descendant  of  the  French  had  something  to  do  with 
naming  both  the  state  and  the  capital.  The  latter 
name  is  borrowed  from  a  famous  and  beautiful  city, 
in  the  south  of  France,  celebrated  for  its  medical 
university  which  was  established  by  the  Moors. 

It  is  the  old  familiar  story,  that  we  find  in  the 
opening  history  of  almost  every  artist,  which  greets 
us  also  in  the  case  of  Thomas  Wood.  He  met  with 
strong  opposition  from  his  father  in  following  his  art 
inclinations.  This  parental  opposition  is,  however, 
perfectly  natural  ;  because  those  who  have  never 
themselves  had  art  aspirations  know  not  the  reward 
it  sometimes  brings  to  such  as  earnestly  devote 
themselves  to  it  ;  while  no  profession  is  more  liable 
at  the  outset  to  yield  hardship  and  pecuniary  neces- 
sity. It  is  natural,  therefore,  that  a  father,  who 
thinks  of  the  welfare  of  his  child,  should  desire  for 
him  a  more  certain  if  less  distinguished  mode  of 
obtaining  a  livelihood. 

But  young  Wood's  father  allowed  him  to  draw  dur- 
ing his  leisure  hours;  and  this  he  did  until  he  was 
eighteen,  never  having  seen  colors,  and  having, 
hitherto,  had  no  instruction  whatever.  But,  at  that 
time,  a  friend  of  his,  who  had  been  studying  in  Bos- 
ton, returned  to  Montpelier  with  some  oil  colors  and 
imparted  some  of  his  imperfect  knowledge  to  the 
would-be  artist. 

Soon  after  this  Mr.  Wood  set  up  in  the  neighbor- 
hood as  a  portrait  painter,  and  was  able  to  seize  a 
likeness,  although,  of  course,  but  an  indifferent 
painter  as  yet.  Having  thus  scraped  together  a  lit- 
tle money,  he  made  his  way  to  Boston  in  search  of 
further  instruction. 


In  those  days,  the  facilities  for  studying  art  in  Bos- 
ton were  not  quite  what  they  are  to-day.  Neither 
Normal  Art  School,  nor  Museum  of  Fine  Arts,  nor 
the  studios  of  such  masters  in  art  instruction  as  Mr. 
William  M.  Hunt,  were  then  open  to  the  young  art 
student  He  had  to  pick  up  his  art  knowledge  in  a 
a  rough  and  ready  way,  a  few  hints  here,  or  a  few 
suggestions  there,  or  sometimes  a  few  lessons  from 
some  kind-hearted  artist  who  sympathized  with  the 
efforts  of  the  young  beginner.  It  was  in  this  way, 
chiefly  from  being  permitted  to  paint  a  short  time 
in  the  studio  of  Chester  Harding,  that  Mr.  Wood 
profited  by  his  residence  in  Boston. 

Harding,  who  was  noted  in  his  day  as  one  of 
the  best  portrait  painters  in  the  country,  is  another 
instance  of  the  difficulties  with  which  our  artists 
have  had  to  contend,  before  the  art  facilities  of  our  time 
made  it  comparatively  easy  to  obtain  art  knowledge 
and  education.  First  a  peddler,  then  a  chair-maker, 
and  after  that  a  sign-painter,  all  the  education  he 
had  in  art  when  he  took  to  painting  was  in 
watching  a  wandering  artist  paint  the  portrait  of  Mrs. 
Harding.  Yet,  with  this  slender  stock  of  knowledge, 
Chester  Harding  set  up  as  a  portrait  painter  ;  and 
when  by  thrift  and  industry  he  was  able  to  lay  by  a 
little  money,  he  went  to  England  and  took  lessons 
there.  He  became  an  excellent  painter,  and  some  of 
his  portraits  will  long  possess  value  for  those  who 
are  interested  in  the  progress  of  Art  in  America. 

Mr.  Harding  was  a  man  of  kindly  disposition,  and 
cheerfully  imparted  some  of  his  art-knowledge  to  the 
young  student  from  Vermont ;  and  before  long  Mr. 
Wood  began  to  produce  successful  portraits,  gener- 
ally of  small  size.  About  this  time  he  executed  a  por- 
trait of  the  government  printer  of  Canada,  or  printer 
to  the  Queen  as  he  is  called.  It  proved  so  satis- 
factory, that  the  artist  received  an  invitation  to  go  to 
Montreal  and  paint  fifteen  more  portraits,  including 
such  gentleman  as  the  premier,  Sir  Andrew  McNab, 
aud  Lord  Bury. 

After  a  successful  art  tour  in  Canada,  Mr.  Wood, 
feeling  much  encouraged  by  the  favor  awarded  to  his 
art  efforts,  settled  in  Baltimore  for  a  while,  devoting 
himself  to  portraiture.  It  was  while  in  that  city  that 
he  attempted  his  first  genre  picture. 

Genre  is  a  word  borrowed  from  the  French,  and 
means  people.  The  term  is  applied  in  art  to  simple 
domestic  scenes,  including  one  or  more  figures,  sug- 


OUR  AMERICAN  ARTISTS. 


gested  by  every-day  life,  as  distinguished 
orate  pictures  of  fashionable  life  or  history. 

We  have  not,  until  re- 
cent years,  had  many  genre 
painters  in  our  art. 
William     H.  Mount 
was  one  of  the  first. 
He  was  a  man  of 
great  natural  ability, 
but  his  advan- 
tages ware  few. 
Eastman  John 
son,  Rich 
a  r  d     M  . 
Staigg,  F. 
A.  Mever. 


from  elab- 


I.  G.  Brown  and  James  M.  Champney  are  among 
some  of  the  clever  genre  artists  we  have  had  since  the 
time  of  Mount.  Among  this  number  Mr.  Wood 
holds  an  honorable  position  as  one  who  forcibly 
represents  the  humble  life  of  the  poor  with  pathos 
and  humor. 

His  success  in  this  direction  was  determined 
by  the  favor  with  which  his  first  genre  picture 
was  received.  It  represented  an  old  negro,  and 
was  sent  to  the  annual  exhibition  of  the  National 
Academy  of  Design,  where  it  was  purchased  at 
once.  But  meantime  a  gentleman  who  had  seen 
it  in  Baltimore,  sent  on  word  that  he  had  already 


NliW  YORK  ;   WITH   TWO  OF  HIS  MODELS. 


OUR    AMERICAN  ARTISTS. 


determined  to  buy  it,  and  had  so  informed  the  artist. 
It  became  a  rather  difficult  question  to  decide  who 
was  the  owner,  and  a  law-suit  was  the  result,  in  which 
each  claimant  fought  hard  to  maintain  his  own  right 
to  the  picture.  The  Baltimore  purchaser  was  finally 
decided  to  be  the  rightful  owner,  but  meantime  the 
New  York  buyer,  who  had  previously  taken  the  paint- 
ing from  the  Academy  at  the  close  of  the 
exhibition,  had  slyly  caused  a  very  clever 
copy  of  it  to  be  made  by  another  artist. 
Of  course  this  lawsuit  helped  the  reputa- 
tion of  Mr.  Wood  by  attracting  increased 
attention  to  his  art. 

From  Baltimore  Mr.  Wood  went  to  Eu- 
rope and  wandered  among  the  studios  and 
galleries  of  the  continent  as  far  as  Italy, 
improving  his  mind  by  a  faithful  study  of 
the  old  masters.    On  his  return  from  Eu- 
rope Mr.  Wood  went  to  Tennessee,  where 
he  spent  several  months  painting  portraits 
and  gathering  material  for  genre  pictures. 
He  was  in  Nashville  at  the  opening  of  the 
war,  and  remained  there  until  the  fall  of 
Fort  Donaldson.  Several  times  it  was  pro- 
posed to  force  him  to  enlist  in  the  ranks 
of  the  Southern  army,  and  as  he  is  of  large 
and  massive  stature  there  is  no  doubt  he 
would  have  made  a  good  fighter.    But  lie 
was  not  only  Northern  born  but  also  North- 
ern in  soul,  and  used  every  expedient  to 
avoid  serving  against  his  country.    In  this 
he  was  aided  by  one  of  the  recruiting  sur- 
geons, whose  portrait   he  was  painting, 
and  who  justly  saw  the  absurdity  and 
wickedness  of  forcing  a  man  to  serve  on 
the  side  to  which  he  was  opposed.  Learn- 
ing secretly  of  the  advance  of  the  Federal 
army  on  Nashville,  and  knowing  that  this 
would  produce  a  panic  that  would  affect 
the  banks,  Mr.  Wood  shrewdly  and  quietly 
changed  all  his  bank-notes  into  money 
available  elsewhere,  and  speedily  left  for  the  North. 

Since  that  time  Mr.  Wood  has  resided  in  New 
York,  and  has  become  an  academician,  as  well  as 
one  of  the  most  prominent  members  of  the  American 
Water  Color  Society.  In  1878  he  was  elected  presi- 
dent of  the  society,  and  the  first  exhibition  since  then 
has  been  one  of  the  most  successful  they  have  held. 


Mr.  Wood's  studio  is  in  the  Tenth  Street  Studio 
Building.  It  is  a  quiet,  cosy  apartment,  always  neat 
and  attractive,  the  walls  colored  maroon  and  an  old- 
fashioned  clock  ticking  in  the  corner.  Both  in  the 
drawing  of  the  studio  and  the  picture'  illustrating  his 
style,  you  see  representations  of  some  of  his  models. 
The  latter  is  a  young  Italian  newsboy,  who  has  not 


■>/  Thomas  Hied,  Esq.) 


yet  quite  learned  to  read  and  speak  the  language  of 
his  adopted  country.  In  both  these  pictures  we 
notice  in  a  striking  manner  the  strong  points  of  Mr. 
Wood's  style  as  a  painter.  Although  he  employs 
both  oil  and  water  colors,  he  is  most  at  home  in 
effects  of  light  and  shade,  and  in  this  department 
sometimes  obtains  very  vigorous  results.    He  is  also 


OUR  AMERICAN  ARTISTS. 


a  keen  observer  of  character.  Mr.  Wood  makes 
careful  studies  from  living  models,  whom  he  often 
picks  up  in  the  streets  and  hires  for  his  studio. 

The  artist  who  draws  and  paints  the  human  figure, 
however  talented  he  may  be,  must  also  draw  much 
from  the  life,  as  it  is  called,  in  order  to  know  how  to 
give  truth  and  character  to  his  figures.  Although  he 
may  be  aided  by  a  strong  imagination  in  the  composi- 
tion of  his  pictures,  yet  it  is  only  by  the  careful  study 
of  the  delicate  tints  of  flesh,  and  the  graceful  outlines 
of  the  body,  that  he  can  ,give  a  natural  effect  to  his 
composition.  For  this  purpose  the  artist  must  often 
study  the  human  form.  Sometimes  he  gains  assist- 
ance from  the  use  of  what  is  called  a  lay  figure,  which 
is  a  very  ingeniously  constructed  of  wood  or  papier 
marche  with  all  the  joints  that  would  enable  the  artist 
to  give  it  any  desirable  position  ;  but  such  lay  figures 
are  used  chiefly  to  arrange  drapery  upon,  as  in  portrait 


painting.  A  lady  who  is  having  her  portrait  taken, 
may  not  care  to  sit  for  more  than  the  likeness  of  her 
face,  and  the  rich  folds  of  her  silks  and  laces  are 
then  painted  in  her  absence  from  a  lay  figure  on 
which  they  are  arranged. 

Some  people,  who  are  in  poor  circumstances,  make 
a  living  entirely  uy  posing  for  the  artists,  and  they  are 
then  called  models.  They  have  to  keep  in  one  posi- 
tion sometimes  for  many  minutes  together,  and  must 
learn  to  pose  gracefully  and  naturally  ;  but  their  faces 
often  appear  on  the  canvasses  of  great  artists,  who 
make  them  a  means  for  expressing  the  visions  of 
their  own  imagination.  Many  a  pretty  Italian  peas- 
ant girl  or  picturesque  old  goat-herd  with  massive 
gray  beard,  or  a  weather-beaten  veteran,  or  a  scarred 
and  sinewy  negro  has  thus  wrested  a  living  from  the 
necessities  of  art,  and  woven  his  humble  and  perhaps 
prosaic  existence  into  the  poesy  of  an  artist's  dreams 


SAMUEL  COLMAN. 


THE  state  of  Maine  has  given  us  the  artist  who 
is  the  subject  of  this  paper.  Samuel  Colman 
was  born  in  Portland  about  forty-seven  years  ago. 
His  father  was  a  bookseller  of  that  city  by  the  sea, 
in  comfortable  circumstances.  While  the  lad  was 
still  quite  young  his  father  moved  to  New  York,  and 
opened  a  publishing  house  on  Broadway,  where  he 
issued  the  poems  of  Willis  and  Longfellow  in  ele- 


gant style,  and  introduced  choice  engravings  to  the 
public,  which  had  an  important  influence  in  cultiva- 
ting a  taste  for  art  in  America.  The  place  became  a 
resort  of  authors  and,  more  especially,  of  artists,  and 
it  is  not  unlikely  that  this  had  some  effect  in  direct- 
ing the  dawning  talents  of  the  boy,  who  often  spent 
an  hour  out  of  school  in  his  father's  store. 

Young  Colman's  turn  for  painting  showed  itself  at 


OUR  AMERICAN  ARTISTS. 


an  early  age,  and  he  became  a  pupil  of  Asher  B. 
Durand,  one  of  the  founders  of  American  landscape 
painting,  who  still  survives  at  the  age  of  eighty- 
three.  Under  the  instruction  of  this  able  artist  the 
youth  made  rapid  progress,  and  exhibited  a  painting 
at  the  New  York  Academy  of  Design  when  only 
eighteen,  which  was  received  with  decided  favor. 

Lake  George  now  became  the  chosen  resort  of  the 
young  artist.  The  exquisitely  beautiful  scenes  which 
cluster  around  that  enchanted  sheet  of  water  offer 
an  endless  range  of  attractions  to  the  artistic  and 
poetic  mind,  and  the  earliest  successes  of  this  artist 
were  gained  on  its  shores. 

In  the  year  i860  Mr.  Colman  made  his  first  visit 
to  Europe.  A  trip  to  the  old  world  is  one  of  the 
first  aspirations  of  the  American  artist.  The  dearth 
of  art  treasures  in  this  country,  which,  happily,  is 
growing  less  every  year,  serves  as  a  powerful  incen- 
tive to  influence  one  to  go  abroad,  to  study  the 
wealth  of  art  which  has  been  accumulating  in  Europe 
for  so  many  ages. 

Before  returning  home  Mr.  Colman  went  to  Spain 
and  Morocco,  two  of  the  most  picturesque  countries 
that  have  filled  the  painter's  soul  with  rapture.  The 
former  attracts  by  the  alternate  wildness  and  allur- 
ing beauty  of  its  craggy  mountains  and  lovely  val- 
lies.  Noble  cathedrals  adorn  the  narrow  winding 
streets  of  its  cities,  and  the  peaks  and  precipices  of 
its  sierras  are  crowned  by  old  Moorish  watch-towers 
and  feudal  castles,  where  the  battle  cry  of  Christian 
and  of  Moor  rang  in  the  long  past  days  of  chivalry, 
or  where,  in  times  of  peace,  the  tinkle  of  the  Saracen 
maiden's  guitar  was  heard  at  eventide. 

The  romance  of  Spain  is  woven  over  every  citadel 
and  plain  of  that  fascinating  land  ;  for  never  was 
there,  since  history  began,  a  more  thrilling  tale  than 
the  story  of  the  long  warfare  between  the  Spainards 
and  the  Moors,  which,  after  a  conflict  of  a  thousand 
years,  ended  in  the  final  overthrow  and  expulsion  of 
the  Moor  from  Spain. 

Many  a  stirring  ballad,  many  a  romantic  legend, 
many  a  weird  and  moving  chronicle  has  been  written 
or  sung  about  those  immortal  scenes  of  other  days, 
such  as  we  who  live  in  this  age  and  country  can  but 
faintly  imagine.  Among  others  who  have  written 
about  that  period  in  a  very  charming  style  is  Wash- 
ington Irving,  whose  "  Conquest  of  Grenada"  and 
"  Tales  of  the  Alhambra  "  you  may  have  already  read. 


Mr.  Colman  found  a  congenial  field  for  his  talents 
in  Spain,  and  took  many  interesting  studies  there, 
which  have  since  been  elaborated  into  finished  paint- 
ings. He  found  there  especially  the  architectural 
subjects  which  he  renders  with  peculiar  success  —  old 
battlemented  towers  and  spires  overlooking  quaint 
market-places  and  squares,  gay  with  the  brilliant  cos- 
tumes of  the  southern  climes. 

One  of  Mr.  Colman's  most  successful  works  is  a 
painting  of  Gibraltar.  This  is  a  very  lofty  rock 
which  stands  out  entirely  alone  on  the  southern 
coast  of  Spain,  and  is  all  but  an  island  ;  for  it  is 
joined  to  the  mainland  only  by  a  low  narrow  isthmus 
on  which  the  city  of  Gibraltar  is  built.  The  side 
of  the  rock  facing  the  sea  is  nearly  fifteen  hundred 
feet  high,  and  almost  as  perpendicular  as  a  wall. 
As  a  natural  fortification  it  is  the  strongest  in  the 
world,  and  has  been  held  by  England  for  over  a 
century,  although  several  times  besieged. 

The  interior  of  the  rock  abounds  in  caves,  which 
have  been  used  to  mount  cannon,  their  sides  having 
been  perforated  with  embrasures ;  and  there  are  to 
be  seen  the  only  monkeys  in  Europe,  except  such  as 
are  kept  in  menageries.  How  they  came  there  is  a 
mystery  that  has  thus  far  baffled  the  most  careful 
search.  The  Straits  of  Gibraltar  are,  in  this  place, 
only  sixteen  miles  wide,  and  it  is  supposed  that  there 
must  be  a  submarine  passage  known  only  to  these 
apes,  by  which  they  come  and  go  at  will  between  Eu- 
rope and  the  opposite  coast  of  Africa. 

This  grand  and  effective  object  Mr.  Colman 
painted  as  it  appears  at  noonday,  with  the  broad 
sunlight  of  the  southern  sea  flooding  its  majestic 
precipices,  while  at  the  base  of  the  tremendous  cliff 
the  calm  waters  of  the  Mediterranean  reposes,  beau- 
tifully blue,  and  reflecting  the  white  lateen  sails  of 
the  picturesque  craft  that  give  animation  to  the  scene. 

Crossing  over  to  Tangiers,  in  Morocco,  Mr.  Col- 
man found  himself  in  a  country  whose  people  are 
Mohammedans  of  the  most  fanatical  sort,  who  make 
it  dangerous  for  Christians  to  penetrate  far  from  the 
coast.  Mystery  and  seclusion  keep  Morocco  almost 
as  remote  as  if  it  were  in  the  heart  of  Africa  instead 
of  a  few  miles  from  Europe.  At  Tangiers,  however, 
our  artist  found  abundant  material  to  occupy  his 
pencil,  and  very  soon  became  greatly  fascinated  with 
the  curious  and  picturesque  buildings  and  people  of 
that  city. 


OUR    AMERICAN  ARTISTS. 


On  his  return  to  the  United  States  Mr.  Colman 
was  elected  an  academician.  In  1871  Mr.  Colman 
made  another  trip  across  the  Atlantic,  directing  his 
steps  this  time  rather  to  the  north  of  Europe.  Hol- 
land, the  Rhine,  Normandy,  Brittany  and  England, 
each  has  charms  of  its  own,  and  has  been  in  turn 
illustrated  by  the  facile  brush  of  this  painter. 

Mr.  Louis  C.  Tiffany  is  another  of  our  artists  who 
has  chosen  and  very  happily  rendered  a  class  of 
subjects  similar  to  those  painted  by  Mr.  Colman,  and 
has  shown  the  same  love 
and  appreciation  for 
color.    Like  him,  too, 
he  has  wrought  with 
equal  effect  in  oil  and 
water-colors. 

In  the  year  1866  Mr. 
Colman,  who  had  pre- 
viously been  elected  an 
academician  at  the  age 
of  thirty,  was  made  the 
first  president  of  the 
American  Water  Color 
Society.  This  impor- 
tant branch  of  art,  al- 
though long  practiced 
in  Europe  w  i  t  h  great 
success,  and  b  y  here 
and  there  a  miniature 
painter  in  America,  had 
never  been  much  fol- 
lowed by  our  artists  un- 
til some  twelve  years 
ago,  when  an  interesting 
exhibition  of  foreign 
water  colors  which  was 
held  in  New  York  in 
1865  attracted  much  at- 
tention, and  also  led  to  the  formation  of  a  society 
devoted  altogether  to  the  encouragement  of  water- 
color  painting. 

Mr.  Colman  held  the  office  of  president  of  the 
society  for  five  years,  and  it  soon  reached  a  position 
of  dignity  and  importance.  Many  of  our  leading 
artists  have  taken  up  the  practice  of  water-colors, 
and  a  steady  improvement  has  been  noticed  every 
year  in  the  quality  of  their  work. 

In  the  paper  about  Mr.  Bellows,  who  has  been  one 


of  our  principal  water-colorists,  I  gave  a  few  details 
of  the  peculiar  qualities  to  this  art.  The  new  institu- 
tion has  held  its  annual  exhibitions  in  the  building  of 
the  Academy  of  Design,  and  the  opening  of  the  spring 
exhibition  has  at  last  become  second  in  importance 
only  to  the  annual  exhibition  of  the  academy.  The 
one  of  1879  was  not  only  the  best  ever  held  in  this 
country,  but  compared  most  favorably  in  variety  of 
style  and  quality  of  work  with  the  London  exhibitions. 
Besides  Mr.  Colman,  some  of  our  best  known 
water-colorists  are  Mr. 
R.  Swain  Gifford,  and 
Messrs.  James  and 
George  Smillie.  The 
former  of  the  brothers 
was  third  president  of 
the  society.  Miss 
Brydges  and  Miss  Dillon 
have  also  done  some  ad- 
mirable compositions  of 
birds  and  flowers  in  this 
medium,  and  Mr.  Muhr- 
mann,  a  young  artist  of 
much  promise,  has 
shown  considerable 
skill  in  so  using  water- 
colors  as  to  give  the 
richness  of  oil  painting, 
both  in  figure,  drapery 
and  landscape.  Among 
our  coast-painters  who 
have  executed  admira- 
ble pictures  with  water 
colors,  Messrs.  W.  T. 
Richards  and  J.  C. 
Nicholl  have  no  supe- 
riors on  this  side  of  the 
Atlantic. 

The  style  of  Mr.  Colman,  both  in  oil  and  water- 
colors  has  been  broad  and  effective;  he  has  painted 
some  very  strong  effects  of  light  and  shade,  and  his 
coloring  has  a  brilliance  that  is  so  harmonious  as  to 
influence  one  like  a  strain  of  music.  But  it  is  in  his 
off-hand  sketches  in  color  that  he  shows  to  best 
advantage,  as  in  his  more  finished  paintings  he  some- 
times loses  the  vague,  dreamy,  poetic  tone  which 
seems  to  inspire  him  when  he  first  takes  hold  of  a 
subject. 


OUR   AMERICAN  ARTISTS. 


The  studio  of  Mr.  Colman  is  in  the  new  and 
elegant  building  erected  for  artists  on  the  corner  of 
Twenty-Fifth  Street  and  Fourth  Avenue,  New  York, 
of  which  his  residence  forms  a  part,  and  the  studio 
can  thus  be  entered  either  from  his  house  or  from 


the  main  corridor  of  the  building.  It  is  richly  deco- 
rated with  studies,  curious  bits  of  Chinese  pottery, 
rare  tapestries  and  oriental  stuffs,  including  the  very 
elaborate  and  fierce-looking  suit  of  Japanese  armor 
which  you  see  in  the  corner  of  the  accompanying 


by  himself. 


engraving.  The  various  character  of  the  objects  col- 
lected in  his  studio  fairly  indicates  the  impartiality  of 
Mr.  Colman's  art  opinions,  for  we  have  no  artist  who 
is  more  willing  than  he  to  see  the  good  in  different 


styles  of  art.  If  we  had  more  like  him,  it  seems  as  if 
the  progress  of  art  in  this  country  would  not  only 
be  more  harmonious  but  also  more  rapid  and  much 
more  instructive. 


mr.  Thompson's  studio.    (Drawn  by  himself.  I 


WORDSWORTH  THOMPSON. 


FEW  of  our  artists  have  enjoyed  a  more  pict- 
uresque and  varied  experience  than  the  painter 
who  is  the  subject  of  this  article.  He  was  born  in 
Maryland,  and  early  showed  a  taste  for  handling  a 
pencil  and  brushes,  which  was  increased  when  on  a 
visit  to  the  White  Mountains,  by  seeing  an  artist 


painting  from  nature.  Nothing  would  do  after  thai, 
but  to  give  full  vent  to  his  enthusiasm  for  art.  But 
the  father  of  young  Wordsworth  took  quite  another 
view  of  the  question,  and  insisted  in  his  taking  up  the 
study  of  law. 

But  after  two  years  with  the  dry,  sheep-bound  tomes 


OUR   AMERICAN  ARTISTS. 


of  the  law,  Wordsworth  Thompson  suddenly  found 
an  occasion  for  expressing  his  art  impulses  in  a  most 
unexpected  way.  The  fall  of  Fort  Sumter  and  the 
breaking  out  of  the  Rebellion  threw  everything  for 
the  time  into  confusion,  and  the  march  of  the  troops 
to  the  battlefields  of  the  South  suggested  to  him  the 
opportunity  of  becoming  an  illustrator  of  the  stirring 
events  that  were  about  to  shake  the  Continent. 

Mr.  Thompson  succeeded  in  obtaining  engagements 
to  draw  for  "  Harper's  Weekly  "  and  the  "  London 
Illustrated  News;"  and  many  of  the  war  pictures 
which  appeared  in  those  periodicals  for  the  first  year 
of  the  conflict  were  from  his  pencil.  This  naturally 
brought  him  into  many  adventurous  scenes  and  added 
many  thrilling  incidents  to  the  experience  of  the 
young  artist. 

But  in  the  year  1862  he  had  had  enough  of  cam- 
paigning and  was  anxious  to  gain  a  more  thorough 
instruction  in  art.  Accordingly  he  sailed  for  France, 
and  settled  in  Paris  for  several  years,  enjoying  the 
instruction  of  some  of  the  ablest  artists  there.  Gleyre, 
who  has  taught  many  of  the  best  painters  now  living, 
received  him  into  his  studio,  and  taught  him  to  draw 
the  figure  from  the  antique  and  the  living  model. 
Mr.  Thompson  also  took  lessons  in  landscape  from 
Pasini,  who  has  painted  some  very  brilliant  oriental 
scenes;  he  also  studied  the  anatomy  of  the  horse 
with  Barrye,  the  greatest  animal  sculptor  of  modern 
times.  It  is  evident  that  the  young  American  artist 
had  a  most  thorough  training  in  the  principles  of  his 
profession,  at  Paris ;  while  by  studying  with  such 
different  artists  he  was  less  likely  to  become  as 
narrow  and  prejudiced  in  his  opinions  as  many  of  our 
art  students  abroad. 

So  successful  were  his  efforts  that  in  1865  one  of 
his  paintings  was  admitted  to  the  Salon.  This  is  the 
name  given  to  the  great  annual  art  exhibition  of 
Paris,  which  is  held  under  the  direction  of  the  Gov- 
ernment. Many  works  are  annually  refused  admis- 
sion, and  it  is  considered  an  honor  when  a  young 
artist  succeeds  in  having  one  of  his  pictures  hung  on 
its  walls. 

The  first  commission  Mr.  Thompson  received  was 
from  an  eccentric  English  gentleman,  Sir  William 
Ardley,  whom  he  met  at  Imhof,  in  Switzerland.  It 
was  for  a  painting  of  the  great  Gauli  glacier.  Accom- 
panied by  three  mountaineers  to  carry  his  traps  and 
provisions  for  a  fortnight,  he  climbed  to  the  scene  of 


action,  a  desolate  spot  ten  thousand  feet  above  the 
sea,  and  surrounded  by  snow  and  ice.  The  weather 
was  fine,  although  the  nights  were  very  keen  ;  but  he 
slept  comfortably  at  night,  under  the  shelter  of  a 
large  rock. 

One  thing  that  impressed  the  artist  at  that  savage 
and  dreary  elevation  and  solitude  was  the  profound 
stillness ;  the  place  seemed  absolutely  dead  ;  not  a 
bird  nor  an  insect  was  to  be  seen.  The  silence  at 
last  became  so  painful  that  he  arranged  a  tin  plate 
under  the  edge  of  a  rock  so  that  a  drop  of  water 
might  fall  upon  it  at  intervals,  making  a  slight  noise 
when  the  midday  sunshine  slightly  thawed  the  surface 
of  the  ice.  Owing  to  the  same  cause,  sometimes  in 
the  middle  of  the  afternoon  the  stillness  was  rudely 
broken  by  the  frightful  thunder  of  avalanches  of  ice 
falling  from  the  opposite  cliffs  ;  but  when  the  echoes 
had  died  away  among  the  distant  peaks  and  gorges 
the  silence  became  more  oppressive  than  ever. 

After  this  Mr.  Thompson  made  some  extensive 
and  most  enjoyable  tours  on  foot  through  the  Eifel- 
wald,  in  Germany,  and  along  the  banks  of  the  Rhine 
and  the  Danube,  and  through  the  rugged  regions  of 
the  Tyrol  and  Bohemia,  and  often  visiting  out-of-the- 
way  nooks  little  travelled  by  tourists.  One  of  his 
most  interesting  trips  was  a  six  months'  walk  with  a 
knapsack  on  his  back,  and  with  a  single  companion. 
It  extended  from  Heidelberg  to  Calabria  in  the 
extreme  south  of  Italy. 

In  the  wild  land  of  the  Abruzzi,  south  of  Naples, 
he  met  with  some  exciting  adventures,  one  of  which 
is  of  especial  interest.  The  country  is  very  rugged  ; 
old  castles  crown  the  bold  crags  along  the  sea,  and  here 
and  there  are  the  mouldering  columns  of  a  ruin  that 
reminds  one  of  the  splendor  of  the  old  Roman  times. 
But  in  our  day  the  land  is  occupied  chiefly  by  rude 
peasants  tending  flocks  of  goats,  or  making  shift  to 
till  the  soil.  Many  of  them  are  a  villainous  set  who, 
if  not  themselves  brigands,  are  in  league  with  the 
robbers  who  infest  the  mountains  prepared  to  plunder 
or  murder  at  every  favorable  opportunity,  and  giving 
the  Italian  Government  much  trouble  in  trying  to 
exterminate  them.  Like  the  brigands  of  Sicily  and 
Greece,  these  picturesque  ruffians  have  a  habit  of 
entrapping  unwary  travellers  whenever  they  think 
they  are  rich,  and  hold  them  until  a  heavy  ransom  is 
paid ;  or  kill  them  if  the  money  does  not  come  on 
the  set  day.    I  have  known  several  gentlemen  who 


OUR  AMERICAN  ARTISTS. 


have  been  thus  waylaid  and  captured  ;  and  have  seen 
and  heard  much  about  brigands  myself,  in  wandering 
about  Greece  and  Asia  Minor. 

Well,  one  night  our  travellers  arrived  footsore  and 
weary  at  a  wretched  little  inn  far  up  among  the 
mountains.  While  they  were  trying  to  snatch  a  little 
rest  in  an  upper  room,  they  were  aroused  by  a  dis- 
turbance in  the  street,  and  a  strange  gabble  of  voices 
in  the  lower  part  of  the  house.  The  landlord  soon 
entered  the  apart- 
ment and  earnestly 
begged  the  travellers 
on  no  account  t  o 
show  themselves  at 
the  window,  or  ven- 
ture down-stairs,  for 
the  place  was  full  of 
robbers,  and,  if  their 
attention  were  at- 
tracted to  the  foreign- 
ers, it  might  lead  to 
serious  trouble. 

The  uproar  contin- 
ued, and  it  was  evi- 
dent that  the  desper- 
adoes were  drinking 
themselves  merry  be- 
low. M  r .  Thomp- 
son's companion 
could  not  resist  the 
desire  to  gratify  his 
curiosity  by  the  sight 
of  real  live  brigands  ; 
and  in  spite  of  all  re- 
monstrance descend- 
ed to  the  street.  He 
was  gone  so  long  that 
Mr.  Thompson,  fear- 
ing he  had  got  into 
difficulty,  felt  it  his 

duty  to  go  down  also,  to  look  after  him.  He  found  him- 
self at  once  among  a  motley  and  boisterous  gang  of 
vagabonds  armed  to  the  teeth,  and  drinking  hard  and 
spending  money  freely.  His  fellow-traveller,  who 
spoke  Italian  fluently,  had  meantime  been  conversing 
with  one  of  the  most  desperate  of  their  number. 
Evidently  the  brigands  did  not  suspect  the  travellers 
of  being  anything  else  than  impoverished  tramps, 


whom  it  was  useless  to  seize.  But  had  a  suspicion 
crossed  the  minds  of  the  robbers  of  the  real  character 
of  these  gentlemen,  our  travellers  would  have  paid 
dearly  for  their  temerity. 

The  brigands  left  as  suddenly  as  they  had  arrived  ; 
but  Mr.  Thompson  and  his  friend  were  not  allowed 
to  leave  until  it  could  be  ascertained  what  road  they 
had  taken.    The  day  was  wet  and  dreary,  and  at 
nightfall  the  excitement  of  the  previous  evening  was 
renewed  ;  but  this 
time  it  was  a  detach- 
ment of  soldiers  that 
arrived,  bringing  with 
tli  em,  as  prisoners, 
twelve   of   the  very 
brigands  who  had 
caroused    there  the 
night  before.  Seve- 
ral were  badly  wound- 
ed, and  soon  after  one 
of  them  was  shot  dead 
while  trying  to  escape. 
After  this  adventure 
Mr.  Thompson 
walked   through  the 
island  of  Sicily,  and 
ascended  to  the  top  of 
Mt.  Etna,  the  famous 
volcano.    H  i  s  wan- 
derings for  the  time 
then  terminated  by 
his  return  to  the 
United  States,  and 
settling  in  New  York, 
which  has  been  his 
home  ever  since. 
But  he  has  made  sev- 
eral visits  since  then 
to  Europe,  and  quite 
lately  took  a  delight- 
|  ful    tour   through    Corsica   and    Sardinia,  islands 
!  celebrated  for  the   beauty  and   grandeur  of  their 
scenery.    The  former   you  may  remember  as  the 
birth-place  of  Napoleon  I.    Mr.  Thompson  travelled 
over  the  island  on  a  mule  which  he  purchased  at  the 
port  of  Bastia,  and  stayed  nights  at  the  wayside 
houses  of  the  generous  and  hospitable  inhabitants. 
Naturally,  Mr.  Thompson  has  collected  many  inter- 


OUR  AMERICAN  ARTISTS. 


esting  studies  of  the  numerous  attractive  scenes  he 
has  visited.  The  vivid  tints  of  sea  and  sky,  or  of 
vineyards  and  mountains,  the  picturesque  villages 
and  fishing-boats  and  motley  groups  of  peasants,  he 
has  painted  with  charming  effect.  His  style  is  poetic, 
broad,  without  being  slovenly,  and  finished,  without 
losing  its  spirit.  But  since  his  return  to  America, 
Mr.  Thompson  has  found  subjects  in  his  native  land 
that  are  congenial  to  his  talents.  He  has  effectively 
rendered  scenes  of  country-life,  such  as  a  steamboat 


landing  in  Chesapeake  Bay,  with  its  groups  of  car- 
riages and  horses,  mules,  cattle,  negroes,  babies, 
planters  and  dogs,  in  picturesque  confusion. 

But  the  paintings  in  which  Mr.  Thompson  has 
shown  the  most  originality  and  strength  have  been 
historical  compositions  suggested  partly  by  the  late 
civil  war,  but  more  especial  by  scenes  of  the  Revolu- 
tion. Up  to  this  time  the  two  pictures  of  the  "  Battle 
of  Bunker  Hill,"  and  the  "Death  of  General  Mont- 
gomery," painted  by  Colonel  Trumbull,  in  the  last 


THE  CONTINENTAL 


century,  have  been  the  most  effective  works  painted 
by  an  American  artist  from  subjects  suggested  by  our 
national  history.  You  have  doubtless  seen  engravings 
of  those  admirable  compositions,  of  which  the  originals 
are  in  the  Academy  of  Design  at  New  Haven.  But 
in  carefully  executed  paintings  like  that  of  the  accom- 
panying engraving,  Mr.  Thompson  has  fairly  earned 
a  place  by  Trumbull.  The  picture,  which  represents 
Washington  and  his  Staff  reviewing  the  Continental 
army  at  Philadelphia,  before  the  battle  of  German- 
town,  is  one  that  gives  satisfaction  alike  to  the  artist 


(Painting  by  Wordsworth  Thompson. 


and  the  patriot,  and  ranks  with  the  best  works  of  the 
sort  produced  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic.  The 
painting  is  not  a  large  one,  the  figures  being  what  is 
called  cabinet  size  ;  but  observe  how  carefully  and 
correctly  the  group  of  horses  in  the  foreground  is 
drawn.  Few  of  our  painters  have  equalled  this  artist 
in  the  drawing  of  the  horse. 

Mr.  Thompson  is  an  academician.  His  studio  is 
on  the  north  side  of  the  building  of  the  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association,  and  is  decorated  with  many 
picturesque  trophies  he  has  picked  up  in  his  travels. 


MR.  brown's  studio.    {Drawn  by  himself.) 


GEORGE    LORING  BROWN. 


WHEN  we  consider  the  career  of  this  artist,  we 
are  carried  back  to  the  early  days  of  Ameri- 
can landscape  painting,  when  Thomas  Cole,  A.  B. 
Durand  and  Thomas  Dougherty  were  introducing  our 
people  to  the  study  of  nature.  Cole  was  one  of  the 
greatest  artists  we  have  had  in  this  country.  His 
opportunities  for  learning  how  to  paint  were  few,  and 
he  was  forced  to  struggle  with  many  difficulties,  but  he 
was  a  man  of  great  talents  and  excellent  aims  and 
character.  Some  of  you  have  probably  seen  engrav- 
ings of  his  "  Voyage  of  Life,"  a  series  of  allegorical 
paintings,  which  are  not  so  good,  however,  as  his 


"Course  of  Empire."  Mr.  Durand  is  still  living, 
although  well  past  eighty.  He  has  been  a  good 
engraver  and  portrait  painter,  but  has  been  better 
known  for  admirable  paintings  of  our  forest  scenery. 

Beginning  to  paint  nearly  fifty  years  ago,  Mr.  Brown 
was  associated  with  the  founders  of  American  land- 
scape art,  and  few  have  contributed  more  than  he  to 
make  it  what  it  is,  a  school  which  has  done  much 
to  please  and  educate  the  people  and  gratify  the 
patriotic  interest  we  should  take  in  the  growth  of  our 
national  art. 

While  we  find  in  the  life  of  Mr.  Brown  less  of  the 


OUR  AMERICAN  ARTISTS. 


adventure  that  some  of  our  artists  have  met,  it  does 
not  yield  in  thrilling  interest  to  that  of  any,  for  his 
early  efforts  in  art  were  attended  with  severe  hard- 
ships. At  the  same  time  he  overcame  them  by  great 
energy  and  perseverance  and  boundless  enthusiasm 
for  the  chosen  .pursuit  of  his  life,  thus  offering  a 
noble  example  to  others  who  encounter  disappoint- 
ment or  adversity  in  youth.  Fortune,  however  grim 
at  first,  smiles  at  last  on  those  who  modestly  believe 
in  their  ability  to  succeed,  and  having  made  a  choice 
of  a  profession  diligently  pursue  it  to  the  end. 

George  Loring  Brown  was  born  in  Boston  in  the  year 
1814.  He  was  the  son  of  a  carpenter  who  opposed  the 
turn  for  art  which  the  lad  displayed  while  yet  scarcely 
eight  years  of  age.  But  the  boy's  mother  was  on  his 
side  and  encouraged  the  first  feeble  efforts  to  express 
his  fancies  with  the  pencil. 

George  went  to  the  Franklin  School,  and  won  the 
silver  medal,  and  at  twelve  he  was  apprenticed  to  Mr. 
Hartwell,  the  artist  and  engraver,  in  order  to  learn 
engraving  on  wood.  So  far  his  father  had  relented 
when  he  saw  how  earnest  his  son  was  to  pursue  art. 
The  boy's  first  attempts  at  colors  were  in  painting 
scenes  for  a  dramatic  club  where  the  famous  Char- 
lotte Cushman  first  appeared  as  an  amateur  actress.- 

The  experience  George  acquired  in  engraving,  and 
also  in  drawing  designs  of  reptiles  and  flowers  in  his 
fifteenth  year  for  Peter  Parley's  natural  history  books, 
was  doubtless  of  great  value  in  teaching  him  accuracy 
in  drawing.  About  this  time  an  incident  occurred 
which  proved  a  turning  point  in  his  life,  and,  like 
such  crises  generally,  came  suddenly  and  unforeseen. 

The  young  engraver  received  permission  to  copy 
some  old  paintings  by  way  of  practice.  One  day  Mr. 
Healy,  the  well-known  portrait  painter,  came  in  and 
praised  one  of  the  landscapes ;  but  young  Brown, 
conscious  of  his  powers,  said  he  thought  he  could 
paint  a  better  one.  Scarcely  had  he  sketched  it 
when  a  Mr.  Davis  came  into  his  studio  and  liked  the 
composition  so  well  that  he  at  once  paid  the  youth 
the  sum  he  asked  for  it  —  fifty  dollars. 

As  soon  as  he  felt  the  money  in  his  pocket  Brown 
exclaimed  that  he  must  go  to  Europe  to  study.  Sym- 
pathizing with  the  enthusiasm  of  the  young  painter, 
Mr.  Davis  mentioned  him  to  Mr.  Cushing,  a  merchant 
of  large  wealth,  and  procured  him  an  introduction. 

"  Are  you  not  rather  young  to  go  to  Europe  ?  " 
asked  the  kindly  old  gentleman. 


"  No,  sir ;  for  I  want  to  be  an  artist,"  the  youth 
replied  without  hesitation. 

"Well,"  said  Mr.  Cushing,  smiling  blandly,  "how 
much  do  you  need  ?  " 

"  One  hundred  dollars,"  George  answered  promptly, 
this  moderate  estimate  showing  how  small  experience 
he  had  as  yet  with  the  world. 

Immediately  on  receiving  the  promise  that  he 
should  have  the  money,  Brown  bounded  home  and 
shouted  excitedly  through  the  house  that  he  was 
going  to  Europe.  The  undertaking  at  that  time  was 
so  much  more  rare  and  difficult  than  it  is  now,  that 
all  the  family  laughed  as  if  it  was  a  good  joke,  except 
his  father,  who  thought  him  out  of  his  mind  and 
threatened  to  put  him  under  lock-and-key. 

"  But  I  am  going  to  Europe !  "  cried  the  youth, 
with  a  simple,  hearty  enthusiasm  that  makes  one  even 
at  this  late  day  share  with  him  the  joy  he  felt. 

"  Going  to  grass  !  "  answered  his  stern  old  father. 
"  George,  if  you  don't  behave  yourself,  I'll  shut  you 
up  in  prison." 

Undaunted  by  such  cold  sympathy,  the  warm- 
hearted boy,  as  soon  as  he  had  received  the  one 
hundred  dollars  from  his  benefactor,  sped  to  the 
harbor-side  and  found  that  the  brig  "  Hebe  "  was  to 
sail  in  a  few  hours  for  Antwerp.  He  paid  seventy- 
five  dollars  for  his  passage,  and  had  only  twenty-five 
left.  Then  returning  home,  he  took  a  mattress,  a 
blanket  and  a  pair  of  sheets  on  his  back  down  to  the 
ship.  The  crew  hoisted  the  topsails,  the  brig  sailed 
out  of  Boston  Bay,  and  was  soon  heaving  on  the  long 
swell  of  the  vast  Atlantic. 

Bound  to  Europe,  to  a  land  of  strangers,  thousands 
of  miles  away,  to  learn  how  to  paint,  to  aspire  after 
that  great  and  arduous  profession  which  takes  so 
many  years  to  acquire,  and  which  so  few  ever  master- 
and  with  only  twenty-five  dollars  in  his  pocket  ! 
Well  might  his  father  almost  think  his  son  insane. 
And  it  would,  indeed,  have  gone  hard  with  the  ardent 
but  improvident  youth  if  a  kind  Providence  had  not 
aided  his  fidelity  to  art,  and  come  to  his  assistance 
when  the  horizon  seemed  the  most  dark  and  forbidding. 

After  a  voyage  of  twenty-five  days,  the  brig  at  last 
sighted  the  low  sand  dunes  and  dykes  of  the  Nether- 
lands ;  and  gliding  by  the  quaint  old  town  of  Flush- 
ing, and  up  the  tawny  waters  of  the  Scheldt,  moored 
by  the  wharves  of  Antwerp,  under  the  shadow  of  that 
matchless  spire  that  seemed  to  me  as  I  climbed  to  its 


OUR  AMERICAN  ARTISTS. 


topmost  pinnacle  and  gazed  over  the  historical  cities 
and  meadow-lands  of  the  Low  Countries,  or  listened 
to  the  magical  music  of  its  silvery  chimes,  to  be  the 
most  beautiful  and  inspiring  monument  which  the 
glorious  Middle  Ages  bequeathed  to  our  time. 

Fired  with  enthusiasm,  young  Brown  stepped  ashore 
and  wandered  friendless  and  alone  among  the  wind- 
ing lanes  of   a  city  hallowed  by  the  memory  of 
Rubens  and  Vandyke.    But  he  was  a  stranger  among 
strangers,  who  spoke  a 
tongue   he   could  not 
understand;  and 
worse  still,  it  was  not 
many  days  before  the 
twenty-five  dollars  he 
brought  with  him  had 
dwindled  down  to  noth- 
ing. 

The  "  Descent  from 
the  Cross,"  by  Rubens, 
one  of  the  greatest 
paintings  of  all  ages, 
which  is  in  the  Cathe- 
edral  of  Antwerp,  at 
once  impressed  the 
young  American  with 
an  interest  that  he  has 
never  forgotten,  and 
so  inspired  him  that  for 
a  few  days  he  almost 
forgot  the  utterly  for- 
lorn condition  in  which 
he  was  placed.  But 
the  brig  "  Hebe  "  was 
about  to  return,  and 
then,  at  last,  realizing 
his  situation,  his  heart 
failed  him,  and  as  the 
brig  was  weighing  anchor,  he  sat  down  and  wept  on 
the  wharf.  Then  the  kindly  captain  of  the  "  Hebe  " 
came  to  him  and  forced  him  to  accept  fifteen  dollars. 

This  money,  so  opportunely  granted,  just  sufficed 
to  carry  young  Brown  across  the  English  Channel  to 
London,  where  he  found  himself  again  with  a  people 
who  spoke  his  language,  and  here  kind  fortune  once 
more  smiled  upon  him  ;  for  although  he  found  him- 
self without  a  cent  in  that  vast  city,  he  also  found  a 
friend.    He  remembered  in  his  extremity  that  John 


Cheney,  the  American  engraver,  was  then  living  in 
London.  Finding  out  where  he  lived,  Mr.  Brown 
called  on  him,  and  was  most  kindly  received,  although 
a  stranger,  and  Mr.  Cheney  offered  to  lend  him 
money  sufficient  to  support  him  until  he  could  hear 
from  Mr.  Cushing.  But  through  some  mischance, 
nearly  ten  months  passed  before  letters  arrived  from 
Mr.  Cushing  with  money. 

During  all  this  time  Mr.  Cheeney  not  only  gen- 
erously  supplied  the 
wants  of  young  Brown, 
but  also  took  him  to 
Paris,  where  he  made 
a  copy  of  one  of  the 
sunset  compositions 
of   Claude  Lorraine, 
the  famous  landscape 
painter.    On  this  copy 
Mr.  Brown  bestowed 
such  great  care,  that 
he   learned    from  it 
many  of  the  secrets  of 
his  great  profession  ; 
Allston,   the  painter, 
declared  it  to  be  the 
best  copy  of  Claude 
he    had   seen,   a  n  d 
when  Mr.  Brown  after- 
wards showed    it  in 
Boston   it    was  the 
means    of  procuring 
him  several  important 
commissions,  although 
he  was  so  dissatisfied 
with   it   himself  that 
he  had  impatiently 
slashed  it  into  three 
pieces  with  a  razor. 
After  two  years  of  the  closest  application  to  seif- 
improvement  in  his  cherished  art,  Mr.  Brown  returned 
in  1834  to  Boston,  and  opened  a  studio  there.  But 
a  few  years  in  the  United  States  convinced  him  that 
he  needed  more  foreign  study,  and  he  sailed  for 
Italy,  and  took  up  his  residence  in  Rome,  at  that  time 
the  great  art  centre  of  the  world.    The  magical  clime, 
the  noble  scenery,  the  picturesque  antiquities,  the 
innumerable  associations  of  Italy  at  once  inspired  the 
buoyant,  ardent  spirit  of  the  young  American  painter, 


OUR    AMERICAN  ARTISTS. 


and  he  threw  himself  into  his  art  with  redoubled 
energy. 

He  found  himself  surrounded  by  the  delightful  com- 
panionships of  well-known  artists  at  the  celebrated 
Cafe'  Greco  and  other  noted  resorts  of  artists  and 
literary  men  in  the  Eternal  City,  and  made  frequent 
excursions  into  the  neighborhood  after  studies.  The 
ruins  and  scenery  of  Italy  were  entirely  congenial  to 
his  nature,  although  born  and  bred  on  the  bleak 
shores  of  New  England. 

In  one  of  his  rambles  over  the  vast  solitudes  of  the 


grass-grown  desert  of  the  Campagna  outside  of  Rome, 
Mr.  Brown  met  with  an  entertaining  but  ticklish 
adventure  which  we  will  allow  him  to  tell  in  his  own 
words.  Having  found  the  solitary  tower  he  was  to 
paint,  he  says  :  "  I  at  once  commenced  planting  my 
artist's  sun  umbrella,  which  covered  my  back,  to  keep 
the  rays  and  reflection  of  the  sun  from  my  picture. 
After  working  an  hour,  drawing  the  tower  very  care- 
fully, I  fancied  I  heard  a  rumbling  noise  behind  mc. 
I  looked  under  my  white  umbrella,  and  lo  and  be- 
hold !  some  dozen  of  those  long-horned  Roman  cattle 


1  Teresa's  house," 


,  ITALY.    {From  a  painting  by  Jl/r.  Brown. 


were  gradually  approaching  me,  grazing,  and  every 
now  and  then  looking  up  at  the  strange  white  object 
and  shaking  their  heads  and  stamping  their  hoofs. 
As  I  looked  back  a  second  time  the  leader  —  a  great 
bull  with  magnificent  horns  as  sharp  as  needles,  each 
above  five  feet  long,  began  with  flaming  eyes  to  look 
at  me,  sniff,  paw  the  ground  and  put  himself  in  a 
fighting  attitude.  As  he  was  evidently  preparing  to 
make  a  plunge  at  me,  I  hastily  gathered  up  my  camp- 
stool,  canvas  and  paint-box,  and  made  tracks  for  a 


stone  wall  a  few  rods  distant.  As  soon  as  I  started, 
the  bull  was  after  me,  and  I  had  barely  time  to  climb 
over  before  he  reached  it  and  stamped  the  ground 
defiantly." 

After  a  long  residence  abroad,  Mr.  Brown  returned 
to  the  United  States  in  i860,  and  since  then  his 
studio  has  been  for  the  most  part  in  South  Boston. 
His  long  life  in  Italy  has  given  him  a  reputation  in 
Europe  as  well  as  in  his  native  land. 

The  subjects  Mr.  Brown  has  chosen  have  generally 


OUR  AMERICAN  ARTISTS. 


been  Italian,  but  some  of  his  most  successful  paint- 
ings have  also  been  taken  from  American  scenes. 
He  excels  in  brilliant  effects  of  light,  and  in  the 
rendering  of  the  delicate  Italian  skies.  His  pictures 
are  thoroughly  poetical,  inspired  by  a  fine  feeling 
for  nature  and  a  tender,  dreamy  fancy,  and  his 
coloring  is  characterized  by  softness  and  splendor. 
In  reaching  these  effects  this  artist  has  made  large 
use  of  ultramarine,  which  is  the  most  expensive  of  all 
pigments  and  the  most  beautiful  of  blues,  and  of  all 
colors  the  most  atmospheric  and  permanent.  It  is 
made  of  powdered  lapis  lazuli,  and  is  so  costly  that 
few  artists  use  it  except  in  the  most  sparing  manner  ; 


while  its  permanence  is  such  that  it  is  the  only  color 
as  yet  known  which  does  not  grow  darker  or  lighter 
with  time.  Thus  in  the  paintings  of  past  ages,  the 
works  of  such  colorists  as  Titian  or  Rubens,  we  find 
the  blues  are  often  as  rich  as  when  laid  on  centuries 
ago,  for  they  were  chiefly  done  with  ultramarine. 

One  of  Mr.  Brown's  most  noted  paintings  is  the 
"  Crown  of  New  England  "  representing  Mt.  Wash- 
ington. Another  is  of  the  Bay  of  New  York,  which 
was  presented  to  the  Prince  of  Wales  when  he  was  in 
this  country,  by  a  number  of  gentlemen.  The  former 
was  purchased  by  him,  and  he  also  gave  the  artist  a 
diamond  pin  in  token  of  his  admiration  of  his  works. 


DAVID 


NEAL. 


THE  art  career  of  this  painter  has  been  passed  in 
Europe  ;  but  he  is  an  American  by  birth,  most 
of  his  paintings  are  owned  in  this  country,  and  he 
may  justly  be  included  among  the  leading  artists 
America  has  produced. 

David  Neal  was  born  in  the  manufacturing  city  of 
Lowell,  in  the  year  1838.  His  boyhood  was  unat- 
tended by  any  striking  incidents,  and  there  was 
nothing  in  the  influences  of  the  place  to  arouse  in 
him  a  turn  for  art.  The  dull  routine  of  a  factory 
town  would  seem  to  be  rather  against  the  awakening 
of  art  feeling  in  the  boys  and  girls  who  played  about 
its  streets.  But  contrary  to  what  one  might  expect, 
David  showed  a  talent  for  drawing  at  an  early  age, 
and  earned  the  admiration  of  his  school-fellows  by 
amusing  them  with  sketches  illustrating  whatever 
happened  to  strike  his  childish  fancy.  "The  thoughts 
of  youth  are  long,  long  thoughts,"  and  a  boy's  eyes 
often  see  far  beyond  the  hills  which  surround  his  na- 
tive town,  catching  faint  visions  of  his  after-life  in  the 
dim  distance  fading  away  into  the  mists  of  the  future. 

This  was  the  case  with  young  Neal,  who  was 
equipped  with  a  good  fund  of  energy  and  resolution. 
Thus  furnished  with  two  of  the  most  essential  qualities 
for  winning  a  way  in  life,  he  determined,  when  only 
fifteen,  to  go  out  into  the  world  and  seek  his  fortune. 
He  went  first  to  New  Orleans,  where  he  found  a 
situation  which  gave  him  support,  but  at  the  same 
time  prevented  him  from  devoting  himself  to  the 
study  of  art  for  which  he  longed.  All  he  could  do 
was  to  give  his  few  spare  hours  to  imperfect  attempts 
at  improving  himself;  but  scarcely  any  assistance 
could  he  get  in  his  studies,  for  there  were  no  art 
schools  or  museums  in  the  city  from  which  he  could 
obtain  hints  in  the  pursuit  which  he  had  determined 
to  follow. 

At  length  David  Neal  decided  to  go  to  San  Fran- 
cisco and  see  if  he  could  improve  his  advantages 
there.     He  went  by  way  of  Central  America  and  was 


greatly  impressed  by  the  grandeur  and  luxuriant 
splendor  of  the  tropical  scenery  through  which  he 
passed  on  his  way  to  the  Pacific.  In  San  Francisco 
he  soon  found  employment  in  making  drawings  on 
wood,  constantly  keeping  before  him,  however,  the 
purpose  of  going  sometime  to  Europe  to  study  art. 

In  the  city  of  the  Golden  Gate  young  Neal  passed 
several  years,  not  only  designing  on  wood  but  also 
painting  an  occasional  portrait,  and  endeavoring  to 
save  up  enough  to  carry  out  his  cherished  plan.  His 
patience  and  perseverance  found  their  reward  at  last. 

In  the  year  1862  he  made  the  acquaintance  of  a 
generous-minded  gentleman,  S.  P.  Dewey,  Esq.,  who 
became  interested  in  the  success  of  the  young  en- 
graver, and  volunteered  to  aid  him  to  obtain  the  art 
education  he  so  much  desired.  Mr.  Dewey  furnished 
him  with  the  funds  necessary  to  take  him  to  Europe 
and  support  him  there  for  several  years. 

Mr.  Neal  proceeded  at  once  to  Munich,  the  great 
centre  of  German  art  at  the  present  day.  Although 
ignorant  of  the  language  he  did  not  lose  a  moment, 
but  began  at  once  to  take  his  first  study  from  antique 
models  at  the  Royal  Academy. 

In  the  following  year  occurred  an  event  of  great 
importance  in  his  career.  He  married  the  daughter 
of  the  Chevalier  Ainmiiller,  an  artist  of  note  who  was 
also  superintendent  of  the  Royal  Manufactory  of 
stained  glass  of  Bavaria.  As  there  was  no  school  of 
painting  at  that  time  in  Munich  which  was  exactly  to 
his  taste,  Mr.  Neal  entered  the  studio  of  his  father-in- 
law  and  there  began  his  first  regular  lessons  in  oil- 
painting. 

With  the  advice  of  the  Chevalier,  Mr.  Neal  applied 
himself  first  to  the  painting  of  interiors,  chiefly  of 
ecclesiastical  architecture.  The  thoroughness  he  had 
given  to  learning  how  to  draw  correctly  was  now  of 
great  use  to  him,  for  while  he  employed  color  in  these 
paintings  with  success,  the  perspective  and  drawing, 
in  which  many  painters  are  very  weak,  and  the  light 


OUR  AMERICAN  ARTISTS. 


and  shade,  were  rendered  with  excellent  effect.  These 
works  met  with  ready  sale  and  soon  established  the 
reputation  of  this  rising  artist. 

One  of  the  most  effective  of  Mr.  Neal's  architectural 


paintings  was  a  study  of  part  of  Westminster  Abbey 
in  London,  which  is  among  the  most  celebrated  build- 
ings of  Europe.   The  kings  and  queens  of  England, 


and  many  of  her  great  soldiers  and  poets  are  buried 
there.  The  chapel  of  Henry  VII.,  which  is  at- 
tached to  this  noble  structure,  is  one  of  the  most  ex- 
quisite specimens  of  the  Gothic  style  of  architecture 
which  remain  in  existence. 

It  is  in  one  of  the  aisles  leading  to  this 
chapel,  with  tombs  on  either  hand,  sur- 
mounted by  marble  effigies  of  the  great 
departed,  that  Mr.  Neal  has  laid  the 
scene  of  what  is  really  a  very  fine  piece 
of  painting.  He  has  reproduced  the  de- 
tails with  remarkable  truth,  but  at  the 
same  time  without  sacrificing  the  grandeur 
of  the  general  effect ;  and  such  a  sublime 
solemnity  pervades  the  painting  that  one 
gazes  on  it  almost  with  the  awe  that 
impresses  him  when  he  is  actually  under 
the  roof  of  the  building  itself.  This 
painting  was  purchased  by  the  Art  School 
of  Chicago.. 

But  during  all  this  time,  while  he  was 
studying  and  composing  these  works,  Mr. 
Neal  kept  steadily  in  view  his  original 
purpose  of  devoting  himself  to  the  paint- 
ing of  the  figure.  The  occasion  at  length 
occurred  when  he  made  the  acquaintance 
of  Professor  Carl  Piloty,  in  1869,  who 
advised  him  to  delay  no  longer  study 
from  the  life,  but  to  begin  at  once  with 
portrait  painting. 

Mr.  Neal  now  entered  the  school  of 
Professor  Wagner,  who  is  celebrated  for 
the  great  painting  of  a  Roman  Chariot 
Race,  and  the  following  year  he  became 
a  pupil  of  Piloty  himself,  and  was  asso- 
ciated in  his  studies  with  Defregger, 
Griitzner  and  others  who  have  since  be- 
come widely  known  as  artists  of  genius. 

Piloty  is  one  of  the  most  celebrated 
German  painters  of  this  century.  He 
studied  with  the  famous  Paul  Delaroche 
at  Paris,  and  after  his  return  to  Munich 
was  made  Professor  of  painting  in  the 
Royal  Academy  in  that  city.    He  is  a 
fine  colorist,  and  his  subjects  are  drawn 
from  historical  scenes.     One  of  his  best  works  is 
the  "  Death  of  Wallenstein  "  the  celebrated  imperial 
general  of  the  Thirty  Years'  War. 


OUR  AMERICAN  ARTISTS. 


No  better  master  could  have  been  found  for  one 
of  Mr.  Neal's  talents  and  turn  for  historical  painting. 
In  the  studio  of  Piloty  the  American  artist  now 
made  rapid  progress,  and  soon  completed  his  first 
elaborate  figure  composition.  It  represented  James 
Watt,  the  modern  inventor  of  the  power  of  steam  —  I 
say  the  modern  inventor,  for  the  Romans  knew  some- 
thing about  it,  but  never  put  their  knowledge  to 
practical  use.  Watt  is  sitting  by  the  fireside  when  a 
boy,  and  getting  his  first  ideas  on  the  subject  while 
watching  the  steam  hiss- 
ing out  of  his  mother's 
teakettle.  This  painting 
was  exhibited  at  the  Roy- 
al Academy  in  London, 
and  was  purchased  by 
Sir  B.  Phillips,  the  Lord 
Mayor. 

The  most  important 
painting  by  Mr.  Neal,  and 
the  one  by  which  he  is 
best  known  is  entitled 
"The  First  Meeting  of 
Mary  Stuart  and  Rizzio," 
of  which  an  engraving 
accompanies  these  pages. 
It  has  established  his  re- 
putation in  Europe  as 
well  as  in  this  country ; 
and  even  the  leading 
critics  of  Germany  have 
pronounced  it  to  be  in 
its  general  qualities  equal 
to  the  best  work  of  his 
master  Piloty,  and  per- 
haps superior  in  color. 
It  received  even  yet 
greater  honor,  for  when 

it  was  first  exhibited  it  received  the  large  silver 
medal,  the  highest  reward  in  the  gift  of  the  Royal 
Academy  of  Munich. 

The  painting  was  commenced  in  1875,  and  repre- 
sents the  abilities  of  this  artist  at  his  best.  Mr.  Neal 
is  not  a  rapid  worker,  but  his  art  shows  careful 
drawing,  harmonious  composition  and  superb  color. 
His  style  is  broad  without  being  slovenly  and  unfin- 
ished, and  the  pigments  are  laid  on  with  a  solidity 
and  firmness  that  gives  the  massiveness  and  effect 


FEASANT  GIF 


of  reality ;  in  other  words  his  colors  are  applied  with 
a  good  idea  of  textures,  as  artists  say,  and  all  that 
he  does  shows  earnest  and  thoughtful  study  of  art 
methods. 

The  subject  of  this  admirable  work  is  taken  from 
this  history  of  the  celebrated  and  unfortunate  Mary 
Queen  of  Scots.  You  have  all  heard  about  her  ■ 
how  extraordinary  was  her  beauty,  how  romantic  and 
tragical  her  career ;  how  she  was  driven  from  her 
throne  by  her  subjects  and  forced  to  fly  for  refuge  to 
England  and  ask  the  hos- 
pitality of  Queen  Eliza- 
beth. But  for  reasons 
of  State  the  English 
queen  was  obliged  to 
treat  her  royal  guest  as 
a  prisoner  and  shut  her 
up  in  a  castle.  After 
nineteen  years  of  impris- 
onment, during  which  she 
made  several  useless  at- 
tempts and  plots  to  es- 
cape, the  beautiful  Mary 
of  Scotland  was  at  last 
executed  as  one  whom  it 
was  dangerous  either  to 
release  or  to  keep  im 
prisoned  ;  and  ever  since 
the  world  has  rung  with 
the  story  of  her  beauty 
and  her  doom. 

Well,  it  is  one  of  the 
most  critical  moments  in 
the  life  of  Queen  Mary 
which  the  artist  has 
chosen  to  represent  in 
this  beautiful  painting. 
The  meeting  of  Mary  with 
Rizzio  was  the  turning-point  in  her  career.  A  strol- 
ling Italian  musician,  he  arrived  dusty  and  worn 
at  the  castle  of  Holyrood  at  Edinburgh.  Being  very 
weary  he  besought  the  porter  to  let  him  have  a  bed 
on  which  to  rest.  This  the  surly  warden  refused,  but 
he  said  :  "There  is  yonder  chest;  lie  there  if  thou 
wilt." 

The  tired  minstrel  threw  himself  on  the  chest  and 
was  soon  lost  in  a  heavy  sleep.  As  he  lay  there 
unconscious  of  what  was  passing  around  him,  the 


"ing  by  David  Neal.) 


OUR  AMERICAN  ARTISTS. 


queen,  accompanied  by  her  maids  of  honor,  came 
down  the  marble  stairway  and  saw  the  sleeping 
wanderer  resting  there. 

Interested  by  his  attractive  appearance,  she  gladly 
permitted  him  at  times  to  play  his  guitar  and  sing  to 
her,  and  thus  he  remained  for  a  time  at  Holyrood. 
Her  enemies,  for  she  had  many,  including  probably 
her  young  husband,  Lord  Darnley,  made  her  liking 
for  the  playing  of  the  Italian  musician  an  excuse  for 
plotting  against  her  royal  power. 

They  began  by  assassinating  Rizzio  one  evening 
when  he  was  at  supper  with  the  queen  at  Holyrood. 
Without  heeding  her  commands,  her  entreaties  or  her 
frantic  screams,  they  pierced  him  with  their  daggers 
while  he  was  clinging  to  her  skirts  for  safety  ;  and 
when  they  dragged  away  his  corpse  tradition  says  it 


was  laid  in  its  last  slumber  on  the  very  oaken  chest 
On  which  he  was  sleeping  when  the  Queen  first  saw 
him.  From  that  day  misfortune  never  ceased  to 
pursue  her  until  she  ended  her  life  on  the  scaffold. 

In  his  painting  Mr.  Neal  has  represented  the  Queen 
raising  her  hand  with  a  slight  graceful  gesture  as  if 
showing  surprise  perhaps  at  so  suddenly  discovering 
the  handsome  young  Italian  ;  but  the  movement  also 
seems  to  indicate  that  she  was  touched  in  that  fateful 
moment  by  a  presentiment  of  some  unknown  coming 
misfortune,  a  foreboding  of  the  sad  years  that  even 
then  began  to  cast  a  shadow  over  her  lovely  brow. 

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A  FAMILY  FLIGHT 

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45 


Specimen  Illustration  from  A  Family  Flight. 


FAMILY 
FLIGHT: 

THROUGH 

FRANCE, 

GERMANY, 

NORWAY, 

AND 

SWITZERLAND. 

BY 

Rev.  E.  E.  Hale, 


Miss  Susan  Hale. 


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lisery  that  exists  among  the  poor  of  a  great  city, 
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By  Hesba  Stretton. 

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is  based  upon  actual  facts,  . 
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